title: Perceptions of parenting: individual differences and the effect of community.
abstract: Neighborhood norms are an important determinant of beliefs and attitudes about parenting, and measuring changes in community norms is an important component of evaluating community-based programs for improving child outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a survey of community residents' perceptions of parenting could be used to measure community parenting norms and whether these perceptions differed by individual or community characteristics. Two community surveys with 870 and 914 respondents, respectively, were conducted in 3 low-income neighborhoods. Results indicated that perceptions of parenting could be measured reliably at the community level although it is important to consider the presence of multiple norms when using such measures. Furthermore, differences in perceptions of parenting associated with individual characteristics were markedly decreased when neighborhood characteristics were considered, suggesting that the association of individual characteristics with perceptions of parenting is confounded by neighborhood characteristics.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas 75390-9128, USA. Margaret.Caughy@UTSouthwestern.edu
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Caughy
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Brodsky
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: O'Campo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aronson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015142:Baltimore; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018672:Community Health Planning; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011593:Psychology, Social; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States