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Neighborhood Danger, Parental Monitoring, Harsh Parenting, and Child Aggression in Nine Countries
Psychology Department Faculty Publications
  • Ann T Skinner, Duke University
  • Dario Bacchini, Second University of Naples
  • Jennifer E Lansford, Duke University
  • Jennifer Godwin, Duke University
  • Emma Sorbring, University West
  • Sombat Tapanya, Chiang Mai University
  • Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Universidad San Buenaventura
  • Arnaldo Zelli, University of Rome
  • Liane Peña Alampay, Ateneo de Manila University
  • Suha M Al-Hassan, Hashemite University
  • Anna Silvia Bombi, University of Rome La Sapienza
  • Marc H Bornstein, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  • Lei Chang
  • Kirby Deater-Deckard
  • Laura Di Giunta, University of Rome La Sapienza
  • Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University
  • Patrick S Malone, University of South Carolina
  • Maria Concetta Miranda, Second University of Naples
  • Paul Oburu, Maseno University
  • Concetta Pastorelli, University of Rome La Sapienza
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-22-2014
Disciplines
Abstract

Exposure to neighborhood danger during childhood has negative effects that permeate multiple dimensions of childhood. The current study examined whether mothers’, fathers’, and children’s perceptions of neighborhood danger are related to child aggression, whether parental monitoring moderates this relation, and whether harsh parenting mediates this relation. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1293 children (age M = 10.68, SD = 0.66; 51% girls) and their mothers (n = 1282) and fathers (n = 1075) in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Perceptions of greater neighborhood danger were associated with more child aggression in all nine countries according to mothers’ and fathers’ reports and in five of the nine countries according to children’s reports. Parental monitoring did not moderate the relation between perception of neighborhood danger and child aggression. The mediating role of harsh parenting was inconsistent across countries and reporters. Implications for further research are discussed, and include examination of more specific aspects of parental monitoring as well as more objective measures of neighborhood danger.

Citation Information
Skinner, A.T.; Bacchini, D.; Lansford, J.E.; Godwin, J.W.; Sorbring, E.; Tapanya, S.; Tirado, L.M.U.; Zelli, A.; Alampay, L.P.; Al-Hassan, S.M.; Bombi, A.S.; Bornstein, M.H.; Chang, L.; Deater-Deckard, K.; Giunta, L.D.; Dodge, K.A.; Malone, P.S.; Miranda, M.C.; Oburu, P.; Pastorelli, C. Neighborhood Danger, Parental Monitoring, Harsh Parenting, and Child Aggression in Nine Countries. Societies 2014, 4, 45-67.