Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: Studies have found that neighborhood social capital can buffer the effects of economic disadvantage on developmental outcomes during early childhood, however little is known within the Canadian context. Objectives: Using comparable neighborhood-level samples from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia (BC) and Ontario (ON), we ask: how does economic disadvantage and neighbourhood social capital, defined as the presence of role models and the willingness of neighbors to keep children safe, relate to vulnerability in social competence? Methods:We used four data sources: the Canadian Neighborhoods and Early Childhood Development study; the ON Kindergarten Parent Survey; the BC Social Capital Study; and the 2006 Census. The resulting sample pertains to 74,770 six-year-old children from 482 neighborhoods in ON, and 9,009 children from 100 neighborhoods in BC. We used multiple linear regression to examine the relationship between economic disadvantage and vulnerability rates in social competence. We tested whether the social capital indicators moderated this relationship. Results: Economic disadvantage was significantly associated with social competence in both provinces (BC: b=-1.78, p<0.001; ON: b=-1.29, p<0.001)). The presence of adult role models and a greater willingness of neighbors to keep children safe were associated with better social competence, even after adjusting for other neighborhood factors in BC (b=-15.09, p=0.07; b=16.20, p=.01) and ON (b=-10.67, p<0.001; b=-11.12, p<0.001). There was no evidence that social capital moderated the relationship between economic disadvantage and social competence. Conclusions: Role models and community involvement may influence social competence in early childhood independently of economic disadvantage. Further analyses are needed to examine how these relationships apply to the various dimensions of children's social competence.