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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Alexandra B. Balaji, PhD¹, Susanna Visser, MS¹, Ruth Perou, PhD¹, Angelika H. Claussen, PhD¹, and Michelle Gross, PhD². (1) Division of Human Development and Disability, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, 1600 Clifton Road, MS E-88, Atlanta, GA 30333, 404-498-3099, dvi7@cdc.gov, (2) The Debbie School, University of Miami School of Medicine, P.O. Box 014621, Miami, FL 33101

Over four million children under 5 years of age live in poverty; a major risk factor for poor health and developmental outcomes. Parents' social support and connectedness may ameliorate the effects of poverty on children. Public health research has demonstrated the connection of social networks to health. However, the nature of social networks in low-income parents is not well understood. Using a sample of low-income, minority mothers, we examined the influence of social networks on variables that mediate parental effectiveness. A revised version of Cochran's (1979) network interview was administered to 272 mothers in a longitudinal, randomized, controlled trial of a parenting intervention. Multiple regression was used to model the impact of network size and composition on social support, coping, and sense of community. On average, mothers had seven social ties, although the networks of Hispanic and working mothers were significantly larger. Network size and proportional composition were not related to any of the three outcome variables. However, after controlling for marital status, race/ethnicity, very low income, and work status, the presence of at least one difficult tie was significantly (p£.05) related to lower levels of coping and sense of community. The results suggest that classic measures of evaluating networks (size and composition) were not significantly related to perceived support, coping, or sense of community. Rather, the quality of social ties may better predict the availability of support and coping mechanisms. Public health interventions for children in poverty should consider the social networks of mothers.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the nature of social networks in a sample of low income, minority mothers.
• Evaluate the relationship between social network factors and measures of support, coping, and sense of community.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation