Citation

Kleinepier T, van Ham M. J. Youth Adolesc. 2018; 47(8): 1611-1628.

Affiliation

School of Geography and Geoscience, University of St Andrews, Irvine Building, North Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, Scotland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10964-018-0878-6

PMID

29961241

Abstract

Research on neighborhood effects has increasingly focused on how long children have lived in a deprived neighborhood during childhood (duration), but has typically ignored when in childhood the exposure occurred (timing) and whether neighborhood circumstances were improving or deteriorating (sequencing). In this article, the authors applied sequence analysis to simultaneously capture children's duration, timing, and sequencing of exposure to neighborhood (dis)advantage in childhood. Logistic regression analysis was subsequently used to test how different patterns of exposure are related to teenage parenthood, school dropout, and delinquent behavior. Using register data from the Netherlands, an entire cohort was followed from birth in 1995 up until age 19 in 2014 (N = 168,645, 48.8% females, 83.2% native Dutch). Compared to children who had lived in a deprived neighborhood throughout childhood, children who were exposed to neighborhood deprivation only during adolescence were found to be equally likely to become a teenage parent and were even more likely to drop out of school. Unexpectedly, children who had lived in an affluent neighborhood throughout childhood were most likely to engage in delinquent behavior. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.

Keywords: Juvenile justice

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescence; Childhood; Neighborhood effects; Problem behavior; Sequence analysis; Temporal dynamics