Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-19-2025
Abstract
Via observational data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods collected between 1994 and 2001, this study examined the degree to which neighborhood disorder, collective efficacy, and youth-centered institutional resources are directly associated with adolescents' depressive symptoms across time, and the mediating role of adolescents'neighborhood self-efficacy. Latent variable structural equation models were estimated among an unweighted representative sample of 1448 adolescents (59% male, mean age 15.19), across 79 neighborhoods in Chicago, to examine the direct effects of neighborhood disorder, collective efficacy, and availability of youth-centered resources at baseline (measured at timepoint 1; reported by an independent sample of Chicago adults) on adolescents' depressive symptoms (measured a timepoint 3), and the mediating effect of adolescents' neighborhood-anchored self-efficacy (measured at timepoint 2). Indirect effects were assessed using bootstrap testing. Adolescents' neighborhood self-efficacy partially mediated the effects of greater social and physical neighborhood disorder (indirect β = 0.03, 95% CI [0.008, 0.075]) and less availability of neighborhood youth-centered resources (indirect β = −0.01, 95% CI [−0.030, −0.001]) on depressive symptoms over time. Adolescents who perceived themselves to have greater neighborhood self-efficacy reported lower levels of depressive symptoms across time (β = −0.13, 95% CI [−0.24, −0.03]), as did those in neighborhoods with greater availability of youth-centered resources (β = −0.11, 95% CI [−0.19, −0.03]). Those living in neighborhoods with more disorder reported lower neighborhood self-efficacy (β = −0.24, 95% CI [−0.36, −0.11]). Neighborhood-anchored self-efficacy may be one mechanism by which adolescents internalize their neighborhood environments in ways that, over time, affect depressive symptoms. Interventions aimed at fostering community environments that nurture opportunities for youth to build efficaciousness may be promising for mitigating adolescent depression.
Language
English
Publication Title
Journal of Community Psychology
Grant
F31HD093274
Rights
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Berg, K.A. (2025), Neighborhood Social Processes and Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms: The Intervening Role of Neighborhood Self-Efficacy. Journal of Community Psychology, 53: e23180. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.23180
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version