Variations in Parenting and Adolescent Outcomes Among African American and Latino Families Living in Low-Income, Urban Areas

Abstract

Drawing from social disorganization theory, this study examined how perceived neighborhood conditions modified associations between parenting and delinquency, depressive symptoms, and school problem behavior among more than 800 African American and Latino 10- to 14-year-olds participating in Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study. Permissive and disengaged parenting, maternal involvement, and punitive parenting were associated with youth outcomes in varying ways depending on perceived neighborhood context and a youth's race, ethnicity, and gender. Neighborhood-modifying influences on parenting were stronger for African Americans as compared to Latinos and for males as compared to females. Findings suggest that the stakes of uninvolved and permissive parenting for problematic youth outcomes are greater in higher risk neighborhoods. In addition, among African American males, punitive parenting is less strongly associated with poor youth outcomes when mothers perceive that the neighborhood poses more threats and offers fewer social resources.