Neighborhood Disadvantage, Neighborhood Instability, and Adolescent Behavior: Premarital Childbearing, Dropping Out of School, and Delinquency

• NCJ Number: 200504
• Author(s): Eric P. Baumer
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 348 pages
• Grant Number(s): 97-IJ-CX-0028
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Thesis/Dissertation

Annotation

This document estimates the effects of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and neighborhood residential mobility on different social problem variables.

Abstract

Addressing linkages among premarital childbearing and pregnancy, pregnancy resolution, dropping out of school, delinquency, illegal drug and alcohol use, and neighborhood disadvantage, the author uses waves two and three of the neighborhood level dataset within the National Survey of Children (NSC). After presenting a review of literature focused on neighborhood instability and disadvantage and adolescent behavior, the author describes his research focused on the connections between neighborhood and adolescent behavioral outcomes. Earlier studies primarily addressed the ways that high levels of residential mobility increased the likelihood of deviant behavior during adolescence and young adulthood. The author maintains that this study assessed the merits of several mechanisms linking neighborhood disadvantage and neighborhood instability to nonnormative behavior. A summary of major theoretical models of neighborhood effects, are described along with the data, measures, and analytical strategies used in this research. Data from the NSC Multilevel Dataset were analyzed using multinomial logit regression and the structural equation modeling program LISREL. Findings indicate that the likelihood of premarital childbearing increases with increased levels of neighborhood disadvantage and that attachment to school and educational expectations are lower among women from disadvantaged neighborhoods. Furthermore, the author found that a residentially unstable neighborhood did not increase the odds of experiencing a premarital pregnancy, but did increase both an individual’s risk of dropping out of school and chances of participating in delinquent behaviors. In terms of substance abuse issues, the author found that while drug use was less frequent among those who resided in areas with higher mobility rates, alcohol use was less frequent among those from disadvantaged neighborhoods. An extensive reference list completes this dissertation.