title: Perceptions of community trust and safety - consequences for children's well-being in rural and urban contexts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the associations between subjective well-being and perceptions of community trust and safety amongst children in rural and urban areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used self-reported data from the 2001/2002 Swedish cross-national WHO study Health Behaviour in School-aged Children. The sample consisted of 3852 children aged 11-15 years, living in different residential areas. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that a greater proportion of children in urban areas perceived low community trust and safety, compared with children in rural areas. Further, the multivariate analysis revealed that perceived community trust and safety significantly impacts upon children's subjective well-being in both rural and urban contexts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children's perceptions of trust and safety have different magnitudes in urban and rural areas. The associations of perceptions of community trust and safety for children's subjective well-being are relevant in both urban and rural areas. As perceptions of low trust and safety in the community seem to be related to low subjective well-being, efforts to encourage community trust and safety should be included amongst the key priorities in community health promotion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden. Ulrika.Eriksson@miun.se
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hochwälder
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sellström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D012449:Safety; D057566:Self Report; D013548:Sweden; D035502:Trust; D014505:Urban Population