The Direct and Interactive Effects of Neighborhood Risk and Harsh Parenting on Childhood Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior

The present study investigated the direct and interactional effects of neighborhood disadvantage and harsh parenting on concurrent assessments and change in externalizing and internalizing behavior in toddlerhood. The study included 55 mothers and their children; families completed in-home assessments when children were 2 and 3 years of age. Mothers\u27 reports were used to measure neighborhood disadvantage and children\u27s problem behaviors. Observer ratings derived from a clean up task were used to measure harsh parenting. Four hierarchical regression equations were computed to test each study hypothesis. Results indicated marginally significant effects of harsh parenting on externalizing problems at age 2. Surprisingly, harsh parenting and exposure to neighborhood risk did not significantly predict increases in externalizing behavior problems from age 2 to 3. Harsh parenting was marginally related to children\u27s internalizing problems under conditions of high levels of neighborhood disadvantage and predicted increases in internalizing over time. The theoretical implications of the results are discussed