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Neighborhood poverty is likely to make a mother more fearful aboutletting her children play outdoors, according to a new study bysociologists at Rice University and Stanford University. "It's no secret that children play outdoors less now than in recentdecades, and research shows maternal fear as one reason why," saidRachel Tolbert Kimbro, Rice assistant professor of sociology. Sheco-authored a paper in the October issue of the journal Family Relations with Ariela Schachter, a Ph.D. student in sociology at Stanford. "This study addresses reasons why mothers do or do not let theirchildren play outside," Kimbro said. Kimbro and Schachter theorize that a mother's fear of her childplaying outside is a major component of her decisions regarding thechild's free playtime. They tested maternal, household andneighborhood characteristics that may be related to maternal fearand discovered the following: A mother's household economic status, education, employment andphysical/mental health all influence maternal fear. Perception of a neighborhood's collective efficacy (shared valuesand goals, social support) is associated with maternal fear.Mothers who believe they live in neighborhoods with shared valuesand goals are less likely to be fearful of their child playingoutdoors, and vice versa. Poverty and the percentage of blacks in a neighborhood areassociated with increased maternal fear. "It's not entirely surprising that poverty aligns with greatermaternal fear," Kimbro said. "When considering the characteristicsassociated with many impoverished neighborhoods - lack ofplaygrounds, poor sidewalks and the potential for crime - it makessense that mothers might be more fearful." Kimbro said that contrary to what one might expect, mothers aremore concerned with issues of social support than crime rates. "The fear of children playing outside is not completely rational,"she said. "You might think that a logical response is to keep yourchild inside when crime rates are higher, but our research showsthat factors closer to the mother, such as how she feels about herneighbors, are more likely to influence her feelings of fear. "Children's outdoor play is an important indicator of overallhealthy development," Kimbro said. Although neighborhood povertystrongly influences maternal fear, mothers of sound mental health living in impoverished areas are less likely to be fearful oftheir children playing outside. "Our results suggest that efforts to minimize depression among mothers living in poverty could have significant, positiveimpacts on parenting behaviors and particularly in the promotion ofchildren's outdoor play," Kimbro said. The study, "Neighborhood Poverty and Maternal Fears of Children'sOutdoor Play," is the third paper to come from Kimbro's broaderresearch project exploring the links between neighborhoods andchildren's outdoor play using data from the Fragile Families andChild Well-Being Study. Additional References Citations. I am an expert from industrialcottongloves.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China PU Coated Gloves , Cut Puncture Resistant Gloves Manufacturer, Industrial Safety Hand Gloves,and more.
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