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. 2013 Aug;24(6):792-812.
doi: 10.1080/10409289.2013.736036.

Rural Neighborhood Context, Child Care Quality, and Relationship to Early Language Development

Allison De Marco  1 , Lynne Vernon-Feagans  1
Affiliations

Rural Neighborhood Context, Child Care Quality, and Relationship to Early Language Development

Allison De Marco et al. Early Educ Dev. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

Research findings: Prior research with older urban children indicates that disadvantaged neighborhood context is associated with poorer early development, including poorer verbal ability, reading recognition, and achievement scores among children. Neighborhood disadvantage in rural communities and at younger age levels may also be related to development; however this relationship has received little examination. In this study we utilize data from the Family Life Project, a representative sample of babies born to mothers in poor rural counties in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, to address questions related to the relationship between neighborhood context (disadvantage and safety) and children's early language development. We examine mediation of this relationship by child care quality. We also examine geographic isolation and collective socialization as moderators of the relationship between neighborhood context and child care quality. Results indicated that while neighborhood disadvantage did not predict children's development or child care quality, neighborhood safety predicted children's receptive language, with child care quality a partial mediator of this relationship. Collective socialization but not geographic isolation moderated the relationship between neighborhood safety and child care quality.

Practice or policy: Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed, including improving community safety through community policing, neighborhood watch, and social networks and increasing access to quality child care.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual Model of the Relationship Between Neighborhood Context and Young Children’s Language Development.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Quality of Child Care as a Function of Neighborhood Safety and Collective Socialization
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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