The moderating role of neighborhood social cohesion on the relationship between early mother-child attachment security and adolescent social skills: Brief report

Abstract

Background: Social skill is a critical asset for adolescents, and early mother-child attachment is an essential contributor to their development. While less secure mother-child attachment is a known risk factor for adolescent social development, the protective factor of neighborhood context in buffering this risk is still not well understood. Research Design: This study used longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 1,876). Adolescent social skills (at age 15) were examined as a function of early attachment security and neighborhood social cohesion (age 3). Results: Children with higher mother-child attachment security at age three had higher adolescent social skills at age 15. The findings show that there was an interaction effect such that neighborhood social cohesion buffered the relationship between mother-child attachment security and adolescent social skills. Conclusion: Our study highlights that early mother-child attachment security can be promotive for cultivating adolescent social skills. Furthermore, neighborhood social cohesion can be protective among children with lower mother-child attachment security.

Keywords

Mother-child attachment security neighborhood social cohesion adolescent social skills ecological systems theory

Introduction

Adolescent social skills are defined as positive behaviors that optimize relationships with others, academic performance, and self-management of emotions (Caldarella & Merrell, 1997; Merrell & Gimpel, 2014). Mastery of social skills in adolescence is critical for social development, which begins in early childhood and occurs within diverse socio-environmental ecological systems (Beauchamp & Anderson, 2010; Bronfenbrenner, 1992). Ecological systems theory suggests that children are impacted by influences at multiple levels, including aspects of their parents and family, their neighborhood and school, and the larger community and society (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Additionally, Bronfenbrenner (1979) hypothesized that there are critical interactions between these systems that influence child development. For example, a child who lives in a dysfunctional home environment but receives significant support and resources within their school or community environment may still thrive. Greater interest in examining the interactions between different proximal and distal ecological systems highlights the need to investigate interactions of multilevel systems during early childhood, which is salient for understanding social development (Masten et al., 2021; Sameroff, 2000). Children’s relationship with their primary caregivers, such as their mother, and the characteristics of the neighborhood where a family resides are two critical ecological systems that influence children’s social development in how they acquire social skills for adolescence (Jack, 2000; Sanders & Morawska, 2018).

Attachment security is a crucial component of the mother-child relationship that promotes social development. Attachment theory states that children need a secure base formed through feeling loved and protected by the primary caregiver to explore and confidently master their surrounding physical and social environment (Ainsworth, 1989). Moreover, early childhood attachment security saliently predicts adolescent and adult attachment security (Fraley & Roisman, 2019) and is an essential basis for social skills to help maintain stable and meaningful interpersonal relationships as adults (Allen et al., 2018; Troyer & Greitemeyer, 2018). Thus, a high level of mother-child attachment security promotes social well-being throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (Grossmann et al., 2008).

Past research on adolescent social skills primarily focused on identifying micro-level factors contributing to social development. Thus, more research is needed to examine macro- and exo-level systems as a protective factor in situations where there is inadequate support within the microsystem. For example, living in a neighborhood with positive assets can help children cultivate adaptive social skills. Neighborhoods have physical and social components: Physical characteristics refer to facilities such as residential buildings and green spaces, while social characteristics refer to the poverty rate, social cohesion, and social capital (Christian et al., 2015; Suglia et al., 2016). Research studies on neighborhood social characteristics have shown that neighborhood social cohesion is linked to increases in various aspects of social development, such as academic performance and prosocial behaviors (Lenzi et al., 2012; Plybon et al., 2003). Neighborhood social characteristics can also be protective against adversity; for example, adolescents with stressful life experiences living in neighborhoods with high social cohesion had significantly lower depression than those who live in communities with lower social cohesion (Kingsbury et al., 2020). Neighborhood social cohesion is linked to place attachment, which can also serve as a source of security for children in exploring their surrounding physical and social environment (Comstock et al., 2010). Collectively, these studies suggest that neighborhood social cohesion, as a macrolevel factor, may buffer adversity that occurs within the microsystem.

The current study examines whether neighborhood social cohesion moderates the relationship between early childhood mother-child attachment security and adolescent social skills. Given prior research suggesting the critical role of attachment security in the development of adolescent social skills (Fraley & Roisman, 2019) and the link between neighborhood social cohesion and children’s mental health (Comstock et al., 2010), we hypothesize that higher attachment security will be linked to higher adolescent social skills, and neighborhood social cohesion will moderate (buffer) the relationship between attachment security and on adolescent social skills.

Method

Participants

We used the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). The FFCWS is a nationally representative birth cohort study of 4,898 children born in 20 U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000 (Reichman et al., 2001). The FFCWS study was oversampled with families from more urban, racially diverse, and lower-income backgrounds than the overall U.S. population. The current study used data on the variables of interest from children ages 1, 3, and 15 (n = 1,883).

More than half of the mothers are identified as Black, one-fifth as White, and another one-fifth as Hispanic (The original data set used the terminology White, Black, Hispanic, and Other). Thirty-seven percent of the mothers had either high school or less than high school education level, and 45% had a college degree at children’s age 15. More than a third of mothers had an income level under the poverty threshold, and about a quarter of mothers had an income level around the poverty threshold at children’s age 15. Less than a half of mothers were married at children’s age 15. On average, children had attachment security scores of 0.46 at age 3. At age 15, they had neighborhood social cohesion mean scores of 17.05 and adolescent social skills mean scores of 16.83. Descriptive statistics for all variables are presented in Table 1. Compared to full samples of FFCWS, our sample had lower scores on neighborhood of social cohesion (M = 17.05 v M = 17.38, t = −2.26, p = 0.02), had more Black mothers (M = 0.54 v M = 0.47, t = 5.05, p < 0.01), had less Hispanic mothers (M = 0.21 v M = 0.27, t = −5.11, p < 0.01) and had lower income (M = 3.16 v M = 3.23, t = −2.01, p = 0.04).

Table 1.

Sample description.

	N	%	Min	Max	Mean	SD
Mother’s race
White	397	21.2	—
Black	1023	54.5	—
Hispanic	400	21.3	—
Other	59	3.1	—
Mom’s education
Less than HS	327	17.5	—
High school	361	19.3	—
College	840	45	—
Graduate school	342	18.3	—
Marital status (married)	661	40	—
Child’s gender (female)	917	48.6	—
Income level
0–49%	277	14.8	—
50–99%	344	18.3	—
100–199%	532	28.3	—
200–299%	259	13.8	—
300% -	465	24.8	—
Mother’s age at baseline	1883	—	14.00	44.00	24.99	5.93
Child attachment security	1883	—	−0.78	1.002	0.46	0.27
Neighborhood social cohesion	1835	—	5.00	25.00	17.05	5.02
Adolescent social skills	1883	—	2.00	24.00	16.83	3.87

Measures

Independent variable

Child attachment security was measured using the mother-reported FFCWS-adapted version of the attachment Q-Sort (Toddler Attachment Sort-39 (TAS-39)) at the children’s age of 3 (Waters & Deane, 1985). The present study used 39 questions (e.g., Is easily comforted by contact or interaction with mother when crying or otherwise distressed) from the security dimension of the attachment, in which the FFCWS compiled the final scores using the scaling guide outlined in (Bimler & Kirkland, 2005). A higher score indicated a greater level of security in the child’s attachment with the mother. Only one timepoint of child attachment security at age three was available since attachment is known to remain consistent throughout early childhood (Symons et al., 1998). Attachment Q-sort has convergent validity with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), a validated measure to assess attachment (Van Ijzendoorn et al., 2004). Only latent factor score of the attachment Q-sort was available, thus internal consistency with the current dataset was not computed.

Dependent variable

Adolescent social skills were measured using a modified version of the Express Subscale of the Adaptive Social Behavior Inventory (ASBI) and the Assertion Scale of the secondary level parent and teacher forms of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) at age 15 (Gresham & Elliott, 1990; Hogan et al., 1992). The SSRS questions, which parents and teachers originally used, were re-phrased as first-person statements to be administered to the adolescents. Participants were asked to answer 12 questions (e.g., I understand others’ feelings like when they are happy, sad, or mad) on a 3-point scale of 0 = not true, 1 = sometimes true, and 2 = often true. Scores were summed and centered, with higher scores indicating higher-level social skills. The scale has a good internal consistency (α = 0.75) for the current dataset.

Moderating variable

Neighborhood social cohesion was measured using a shortened version of the Social Cohesion and Trust Scale (Sampson, 1997; Sampson et al., 1997) at age three using the mother’s self-report information. The survey was composed of five questions (e.g., People around here are willing to help their neighbors) on a 4-point scale from 1 = strongly agree to 4 = strongly disagree. Three questions were reverse coded so that higher scores showed stronger social cohesion in the neighborhood. The scores were summed and centered, with higher scores indicating greater neighborhood social cohesion. The scale has a good internal consistency for the current dataset (α = 0.8).

Covariates

We included the mothers’ age and racial and ethnic identity at children’s age of 1, and mother’s household income, education level, marital status and adolescents’ gender at children’s age of 15 as covariates to account for original sampling strategy and potential confounding variables that may contribute to adolescent social skills. We controlled these socio-economic variables as they are known to have significant influences on children’s social development. Mothers’ age was self-reported and measured in years. Racial and ethnic identity was measured by the mother’s self-report (White, Black, Hispanic, and Other). We created a dichotomous dummy-coded variable representing four racial and ethnic identity categories. Income level was measured by the ratio of total household income (as reported by the mother) to poverty thresholds determined by the United States Census Bureau (2021) and was categorized into five groups (1 = lowest income ratio to 5 = highest income ratio) with higher scores indicating a higher income level. Maternal education was categorically coded (1 = less than high school, 2 = high school, 3 = college, and 4 = graduate school). Marital status was dichotomously coded (nonmarried = 0, married = 1). Adolescent children’s gender was dichotomously coded (male = 0, female = 1).

Analyses plan

We conducted multiple linear regression analyses to assess the main and moderation effects between mother-child attachment, adolescent social skills, and neighborhood social cohesion. Both the independent variable and the moderator were centered for the moderation analyses. Simple slope analyses were then conducted to interpret the nature of the interaction. We reported standardized coefficients (β) and p-values for all our analyses. Missing data were handled through listwise deletion; results were confirmed using the full sample using full information maximum likelihood estimation (FIML) (Missing data did not significantly impact results). We used R to conduct all statistical analyses (R Core Team, 2021).

Results

Main Effect

High scores in child attachment security were positively correlated with increased adolescent social skills (β = 0.109, SE = 0.332, CI = 0.923, 2.228, p < 0.001), and the association remained after adjusting for all covariates (β = 0.081, SE = 0.348, CI = 0.494, 1.857, p < 0.001). High scores in neighborhood social cohesion at age three were also positively correlated with increased adolescent social skills (β = 0.090, SE = 0.018, CI = 0.034, 0.104, p < 0.001); the association also remain significant after adjusting for all covariates (β = 0.052, SE = 0.019, CI = 0.002, 0.078, p < 0.05).

Moderation effect

Neighborhood social cohesion significantly moderated the link between mother-child attachment and adolescent social skills (β = −0.049, SE = 0.065, CI = −0.266, −0.010, p < 0.05) such that greater neighborhood cohesion reduced the association between attachment and social skills; this effect remained significant after all covariates were included (β = −0.057, SE = 0.066, CI = −0.290, −0.031, p < 0.05) (see Figure 1). Simple slope analysis showed that children who lived in neighborhoods with low-to-average social cohesion, increased attachment security was associated with increased adolescent social skills (low social cohesion: β = 0.134, SE = 0.034, p < 0.001; average social cohesion: β = 0.079, SE = 0.024, p < 0.01). On the other hand, there was no association between attachment security and adolescent social skills for children who lived in neighborhoods with high social cohesion (β = 0.024, SE = 0.033, p > 0.05). Low, average, and high neighborhood social cohesion were defined as scores one SD lower from mean (low), mean (average), and one SD from mean (high).

Figure 1.

The moderating effects of neighborhood social cohesion on the relationship between child attachment security and adolescent social skills.

Discussion

Our study examined whether children’s attachment security to their primary caregivers relates to adolescent social skills and if neighborhood social cohesion moderates the relationship. First, our findings indicate that children’s attachment security is linked to adolescent social skills; children with high attachment security show greater social skills. This relationship remained significant after controlling for several contextual factors, such as mothers’ race, education level, marital status, income level, and children’s gender. Second, our findings also show a protective effect of neighborhood social cohesion. Neighborhood cohesion moderated the relationship between attachment security and adolescent social skills, such that the associations between attachment security and social skills weakened at a higher level of neighborhood cohesion.

Our findings underscore the importance of examining multiple ecological systems from the same developmental time point. While proximal ecological systems, such as attachment security formed through child-caregiver relationships, contribute to adolescent social skills development, the distal ecological systems, such as neighborhood-level factors, can buffer against potential challenges within children’s microsystem (e.g., low attachment security with the primary caregiver). This transactional relationship between multiple ecological systems has been shown as an essential contribution to child development (Masten et al., 2021; Sameroff, 2000), specifically for the development of social skills.

Social cohesion relates to the trust and bonds between neighbors. Children who live in neighborhoods with a high degree of social cohesion may have more opportunities to engage within their community and interact with other trusted adults, as well as form friendships with children. These connections with other sources of support may be the driving force behind the buffering impact of social cohesion on social skills for children who had insecure attachments to their caregivers.

Our study has meaningful clinical implications. First, investing in neighborhood-level interventions can be particularly helpful for children experiencing low attachment security with their caregivers or for caregivers experiencing limited resources and energy to provide enriching relational opportunities for their children to bond. One such example is Strong Communities (McDonell et al., 2015), which includes outreach workers to organize communities around keeping children safe and watching out for one another and informal services for families with young children. The program has demonstrated positive impacts, including increased social support and collective efficacy (McDonell et al., 2015).

Lastly, ongoing investment in early child support through the national and local-level policies is necessary and requires continuing advocacy. Attachment security and neighborhood social cohesion that children experience as early as 3 years old meaningfully contribute to social skills in adolescence. Recent studies show a significant relationship between access to paid family leave and increased mother-child attachment security and overall family well-being, especially among lower-income families (Plotka & Busch-Rossnagel, 2018; Winston et al., 2017). Thus, offering parents resources to protect their time in fostering early childhood secure mother-child attachment is essential and may be considered a priority in policy implementation around child well-being and development.

Several limitations exist in our study. First, our study only reflects the sample characteristics of the dataset. It may not be generalizable among adolescents who do not share similar demographic characteristics: This includes adolescents from non-western societies, rural communities, of other racial and ethnic backgrounds, with diverse gender identities, and who have disabilities. In addition, Finally, the study relied on a measure of social cohesion at child age three; subjects may have moved to a different neighborhood between the measurement of the moderating variable (age 3) and the outcome variable (age 15). As such, the findings represent the buffering impact of social cohesion in early childhood on child outcomes at age 15 and may not represent the impact of social cohesion at later ages. Finally, our study utilizes quantitative self-report of either mothers or their adolescents’ children at each time point, which may be susceptible to self-report bias. Future study is encouraged to use qualitative and observational data to mitigate the possible limitations of the current data collection strategy.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Open research statement

As part of IARR’s encouragement of open research practices, the authors have provided the following information: This research was not pre-registered. The data used in the research are available. The data can be obtained at: . The materials used in the research are available. The materials can be obtained by emailing: hshong@umich.edu.

ORCID iD

Sunghyun Hong

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