Collective Efficacy as a Key Context in Neighborhood Support for Urban Youth.

Neighborhood context, including the physical and social environment, has been implicated as important contributors to positive youth development. A transactional approach to neighborhood asserts that place and people are mutually constitutive; negative perceptions of place are intrinsically bound with negative portrayals of stigmatized groups, including youth. Adult perceptions of neighborhood youth may contribute to an increased sense of alienation and youth antisocial behavior. This study uses street-intercept interviews with adults (N = 408) to examine the relationship between neighborhood conditions and adult support for neighborhood youth. A path model was used to examine the direct and indirect relationship of neighborhood constructs (safety, aesthetic quality, and walkability) on adult support for neighborhood youth. Neighborhood aesthetic quality and the walking environment were directly associated with adult support for youth, whereas perceived safety was indirectly associated. Collective efficacy partially explained these relationships. Findings support theorized relationships between people and places; improvements to neighborhood physical environment may directly impact resident adults' perceptions of neighborhood young people.

Validation of a Google Street View-Based Neighborhood Disorder Observational Scale.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in developing new tools to measure neighborhood features using the benefits of emerging technologies. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of a neighborhood disorder observational scale using Google Street View (GSV). Two groups of raters conducted virtual audits of neighborhood disorder on all census block groups (N = 92) in a district of the city of Valencia (Spain). Four different analyses were conducted to validate the instrument. First, inter-rater reliability was assessed through intraclass correlation coefficients, indicating moderated levels of agreement among raters. Second, confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test the latent structure of the scale. A bifactor solution was proposed, comprising a general factor (general neighborhood disorder) and two specific factors (physical disorder and physical decay). Third, the virtual audit scores were assessed with the physical audit scores, showing a positive relationship between both audit methods. In addition, correlations between the factor scores and socioeconomic and criminality indicators were assessed. Finally, we analyzed the spatial autocorrelation of the scale factors, and two fully Bayesian spatial regression models were run to study the influence of these factors on drug-related police interventions and interventions with young offenders. All these indicators showed an association with the general neighborhood disorder. Taking together, results suggest that the GSV-based neighborhood disorder scale is a reliable, concise, and valid instrument to assess neighborhood disorder using new technologies.