Comparing two measures of neighborhood quality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the adolescent brain cognitive development study

Logan Beyer; Ryan Keen; Karen A Ertel; Sakurako S Okuzono; Kedie Pintro; Scott Delaney; Natalie Slopen

doi:10.1007/s00127-024-02614-4

Comparing two measures of neighborhood quality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the adolescent brain cognitive development study

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2024 Feb 2. doi: 10.1007/s00127-024-02614-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Logan Beyer^{1

2}, Ryan Keen³, Karen A Ertel^{3

4}, Sakurako S Okuzono³, Kedie Pintro⁵, Scott Delaney^{3

6}, Natalie Slopen^{3

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA. logan_beyer@hms.harvard.edu.
² Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. logan_beyer@hms.harvard.edu.
³ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, USA.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
⁶ Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
⁷ Center On the Developing Child, Harvard University, Boston, USA.

PMID: 38305870
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-024-02614-4

Abstract

Purpose: There is widespread recognition of the importance and complexity of measuring neighborhood contexts within research on child psychopathology. In this study, we assessed the cross-sectional associations between two measures of neighborhood quality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in preadolescence.

Methods: Drawing on baseline data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (n = 10,577 preadolescents), we examined two multi-component assessments of neighborhood quality in relation to children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms: the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), which measures socioeconomic adversity, and the Child Opportunity Index 2.0 (COI), which measures economic, educational, and environmental opportunity. Both measures were categorized into quintiles. We then used mixed-effects linear regression models to examine bivariate and adjusted associations.

Results: The bivariate associations displayed strong inverse associations between the COI and ADI and externalizing symptoms, with a graded pattern of fewer externalizing behaviors with increasing neighborhood quality. Only the ADI was associated with externalizing behaviors in models adjusted for child and family characteristics. We did not observe a clear association between either measure of neighborhood quality and internalizing behaviors in bivariate or adjusted models.

Conclusions: Neighborhood quality, as measured by the COI and ADI, was associated with externalizing behaviors in preadolescent children. The association using the ADI persisted after adjustment for family-level characteristics, including financial strain. Our results indicate that different assessments of neighborhood quality display distinct associations with preadolescent behavioral health. Future research is needed to assess the association between neighborhood quality and behavior trajectories and to identify place-based intervention strategies.

Keywords: Externalizing behaviors; Internalizing behaviors; Neighborhood quality; Preadolescence.

Abstract

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