New Relationships among neighborhood socioeconomic status, neighborhood social capital, and female adolescent reproductive health promotion.

Relationships among neighborhood socioeconomic status, neighborhood social capital, and female adolescent reproductive health promotion.

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The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among neighborhood socioeconomic status, neighborhood social capital, and female adolescent reproductive health promotion and to test a model of neighborhood social capital as a mediator of neighborhood socioeconomic status on female adolescent reproductive health promotion. A cross-sectional, correlational design was used for this study. A secondary data set analysis of Wave I of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health was conducted utilizing structural equation modeling to test the model. The sample included 2612 sexually active girls with completed parent questionnaires and neighborhood contextual data.;Final model testing yielded acceptable fit of the model to the data with a chi2 = 285, df = 67, p < .001, CFI = .95, and RMSEA = .04. Statistically significant direct paths were found from neighborhood socioeconomic status to trust (beta = .09, standardized), network membership (beta = .09 standardized), and norms of reciprocity (beta = .09 standardized); from trust and network membership to attitudes towards pregnancy (beta = .06 and .10 respectively, standardized); from attitudes towards pregnancy to attitudes towards contraception and condom use (beta = .20 and .17 respectively, standardized); and from attitudes towards contraception to condom use and highly effective contraceptive use (beta = .29 and .31 respectively, standardized). Trust and network membership were statistically significant mediators of neighborhood socioeconomic status on attitudes towards pregnancy. Model testing revealed partial invariance for both race (chi2 difference = 41.01, df = 28, p = .054) and geographic area (chi 2 difference = 57.64, df = 45, p = .10) multi-group analyses.;These findings suggest that further research regarding the effect of neighborhood trust and network membership on female adolescent health promotion may contribute to nursing interventions designed to reduce adolescent childbearing

Relationships among neighborhood socioeconomic status, neighborhood social capital, and female adolescent reproductive health promotion.