TY - JOUR
T1 - From the Macro to the Micro
T2 - A Geographic Examination of the Community Context and Early Adolescent Problem Behaviors
AU - Chilenski, Sarah M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge Dr. Mark Greenberg and Dr. Mark Feinberg for their review of this manuscript and their mentoring, Dr. Lesa Hoffman and Dr. Wayne Osgood for consultation during statistical analyses, Michelle Zeiders for assistance with geo-coding and creating shapefiles, and the many graduate and undergraduate students that assisted with the data collection for this project. Funding for this article was provided by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - This study examined how multiple dimensions and levels of the community context associated with early adolescent problem behaviors in rural communities. Four thousand, five hundred and nine eighth-grade students in 28 rural and small town school districts in two states participated in surveys regarding substance use and delinquency in 2005. Locations of alcohol retailers, tobacco retailers, youth-serving organizations, and student residences were geocoded. Associations of the number of proximal alcohol and tobacco retailers, and youth-serving organizations with an early-adolescent problem behavior index were tested in Nonlinear Mixed Models that controlled for multiple district-level and individual characteristics. Multi-level model results demonstrated that the number of alcohol and tobacco retail locations within a one-mile radius of each adolescent's home positively associated with student-reported problem behaviors above and beyond the influence of school district and individual characteristics. Results suggest that the proximal community context added significantly to the district context when understanding the occurrence of early adolescent problem behaviors. Recognizing this variability in geographically determined risk within a community will likely enhance the effectiveness of community prevention activities.
AB - This study examined how multiple dimensions and levels of the community context associated with early adolescent problem behaviors in rural communities. Four thousand, five hundred and nine eighth-grade students in 28 rural and small town school districts in two states participated in surveys regarding substance use and delinquency in 2005. Locations of alcohol retailers, tobacco retailers, youth-serving organizations, and student residences were geocoded. Associations of the number of proximal alcohol and tobacco retailers, and youth-serving organizations with an early-adolescent problem behavior index were tested in Nonlinear Mixed Models that controlled for multiple district-level and individual characteristics. Multi-level model results demonstrated that the number of alcohol and tobacco retail locations within a one-mile radius of each adolescent's home positively associated with student-reported problem behaviors above and beyond the influence of school district and individual characteristics. Results suggest that the proximal community context added significantly to the district context when understanding the occurrence of early adolescent problem behaviors. Recognizing this variability in geographically determined risk within a community will likely enhance the effectiveness of community prevention activities.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10464-011-9428-z
DO - 10.1007/s10464-011-9428-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 21336674
AN - SCOPUS:80855128734
SN - 0091-0562
VL - 48
SP - 352
EP - 364
JO - American Journal of Community Psychology
JF - American Journal of Community Psychology
IS - 3-4
ER -