An exploration of perceived social support for children and adolescents who reside in neighborhoods that lack social cohesion and trust

The dissertation examines the effects of individual-level variables (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity, and psychological problems) and family-level variables (i.e., family structure, family size, number of siblings under age 19, caregiver perceived social support, and family SES) on children's perceived social support from family and friends. The sample of 509 children and adolescents and their caregivers is from an archival dataset. Primary selection criteria for this sample includes being in age cohort 9, 12, or 15 and residing in one of the Chicago neighborhoods that is identified as being an “at-risk” community due to low levels of social cohesion and trust. The study conceptualizes children's perceived social support as an individual measure of social capital and neighborhood social cohesion and trust as a collective measure of social capital. A surprising sample characteristic is that of the 21 neighborhoods selected for meeting the criterion of having low social cohesion and trust, 34% are mid-SES neighborhoods and 66% are high-SES neighborhoods; none of the neighborhoods with low social cohesion and trust are poor. Regression analyses indicate that the nine predictors explain 15% of the variance in total perceived social support, 16% of the variance in family social support, and 16% of the variance in friend social support. Findings suggest that children and adolescents who have more psychological problems are likely to report lower levels of perceived social support while youth with fewer psychological problems tend to report higher levels of perceived social support. Regarding gender, males report lower levels of perceived social support from friends than females, but there are no gender differences in levels of support from family. Age differences exist in that children report more support from family and adolescents report more support from friends. White children report more social support from friends than Black and Latino children. Children and adolescents in two-parent families report higher levels of perceived social support from family than children in single-parent families. There are no significant findings for family size, number of siblings, caregiver social support, or family SES. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed in the final chapter, and recommendations for future research are provided.