Potential of neighbourhood in promoting children’s wellbeing: Perceptions of mothers Sylvie Jutras Colette Dubuisson Université du Québec à Montréal 18 th IAPS Conference: Vienna, July 2004

2 Objective of the study To describe how mothers from different family conditions perceive positive and negative contributions of their neighbourhood to the psychological wellbeing of their children.

3 Method

4 Mothers of children between 8 and 13 years of age (n = 201) From an inner-city neighbourhood76 From an affluent neighbourhood67 With a diabetic child27 With a deaf child31

5 2 questions about the neighbourhood In your neighbourhood, who or what can FOSTER your child's psychological wellbeing?  Who or what are they?  How do they help? In your neighbourhood, who or what can HINDER your child's psychological wellbeing?  Who or what are they?  How are they an obstacle?

6 Analysis of the interviews The responses were  transcribed verbatim into a database  broken down into distinct units of information  content analysed using a response coding grid  computed for their relative frequencies

7 Results

Positive aspects of neighbourhoods for the wellbeing of children

9 Positive aspects of neighbourhoods Good community services Environmental amenities Conviviality Nice people Safety Social integration Children to play with

10 Good community services Schools are close. The playground, the swimming pool. Three recreation centres. The library, the arena, everything is available.

11 Environmental amenities The big trees around. There is no noise. It’s a nice neighbourhood. The greenness. There is a lot of space for the children to play.

12 Conviviality We know everybody around. We can have confidence in each other. Neighbours chat with each other.

13 Nice people Nice families live here. They are good neighbours. His friends are well-mannered. We have relatives on the block.

14 Safety There is no violence here. It’s a residential neighbourhood. I’m not worried about her encountering prostitutes. Traffic is not that bad.

15 Social integration She is accepted by everyone despite her deafness. Neighbours are nice with him, just like they are with the other kids. She is friends with a lot of people around.

16 Children to play with There are plenty of kids of his age. Only families with children live around here. There are several children her age who she plays with.

Comparisons between mothers of the four groups Inner-city neighbourhood Affluent neighbourhood Diabetics Deaf

18 Percentage of mothers mentioning salient aspects in each group

Comparisons by age

20 Percentage of mothers mentioning salient aspects by child’s age

Comparisons by gender

22 Percentage of mothers mentioning salient aspects by child’s gender

Negative aspects of neighbourhoods for the wellbeing of children

24 Negative aspects of neighbourhoods Threats Lack of conviviality Social and economic problems Unattractive environment No children to play with

25 Threats There is too much traffic. Drug dealers hang around. There is a lot of crime in our neighbourhood. The kids get into fights.

26 Lack of conviviality Parents around here don’t take care of their children. The other kids tease him because of his cochlear implant. People around here are so negative.

27 Social and economic problems There are prostitutes, drug dealers on my street. Parents are violent with their children. The teenagers are rude, there are gangs. Almost everybody is on welfare.

28 Unattractive environment The houses are too close to each other. It’s dirty, the dust is bad because she is asthmatic. The streets, the sidewalks are worn-out.

29 No children to play with She is alone, there are no friends around to play with. There are no deaf children in the neighbourhood. Kids around here are too old for her.

Comparisons between mothers of the four groups Inner-city neighbourhood Affluent neighbourhood Diabetics Deaf

31 Percentage of mothers mentioning salient aspects in each group

Comparisons by age

33 Percentage of mothers mentioning salient aspects by child’s age

Comparisons by gender

35 Percentage of mothers mentioning salient aspects by child’s gender

36 In a neighbourhood that sustains children’s wellbeing, there are No social and economic problems Children to play with Social integration Safety Nice people Conviviality Environmental amenities Good community services

37 This may be harder to get for Children living in an inner- city neighbourhood who face  Threats  Social and economic problems  Unattractive environment Deaf children who lack  Community services  Children to play with

Thank you for your attention!