This study examined associations between participation in community gardening/beautification projects and neighborhood meetings with perceptions of social capital at both the individual and neighborhood levels. Data were analyzed from a cross-sectional stratified random telephone survey conducted in Flint, Michigan (N51916). Hierarchical linear and logistic regression analyses were used to study associations, controlling for individual and Census block group-level confounders. At the individual level, household involvement in community gardening/ beautification activities and in neighborhood meetings were associated with residents' perceptions of bonding social capital, linking social capital, and neighborhood norms and values. Household involvement in gardening/beautification and meetings had stronger associations with residents' perceptions of social capital than did neighborhood-level involvement measures. Results suggest involvement in neighborhood meetings augment the individual and neighborhood-wide perceptions of social capital associated with community gardening and beautification projects. Neighborhood community gardens' impact on neighborhood residents' perceptions of social capital can be enhanced by neighborhoodwide meetings. C

Evolutionary Life History Theory (LHT) is a powerful framework that can be used for understanding behavioral strategies as functional adaptations to environmental conditions. Some evolutionary theorists have described how developmental environments can shape behavioral strategies. Theorists and previous research suggest that individuals developing in relatively less certain environments will exhibit riskier, present oriented, behavioral strategies because of the low probability of reproductive success for more cautious approaches. An evolutionary psychology approach to LHT includes the identification of psychological processes that regulate behavioral strategies as a result of developmental experiences. This paper proposes that time perspective is one psychological mechanism that may underlie functional developmental adaptation. A survey study of urban middle school students (N=607) assessed the relationship between perceptions of local social conditions, time perspective, and risky behaviors. Structural equation model analyses indicated that present and future orientations completely mediated the relationship of positive and negative aspects of students' neighborhood social environment with reports of interpersonal aggression and illicit resource exploitation. This model had a better fit to the data than competing models depicting time perspective as a byproduct of either phenotypic strategy or social-environmental experiences.

This study investigates how neighborhood deterioration is associated with stress and depressive symptoms and the mediating effects of perceived neighborhood social conditions. Data come from a community survey of 801 respondents geocoded and linked to a systematic on-site assessment of the physical characteristics of nearly all residential and commercial structures around respondents' homes. Structural equation models controlling for demographic effects indicate that the association between neighborhood deterioration and well-being appear to be mediated through social contact, social capital, and perceptions of crime, but not through neighborhood satisfaction. Specifically, residential deterioration was mediated by social contact, then, social capital and fear of crime. Commercial deterioration, on the other hand, was mediated only through fear of crime. Additionally, data indicate that the functional definition of a "neighborhood" depends on the characteristics measured. These findings suggest that upstream interventions designed to improve neighborhood conditions as well as proximal interventions focused on social relationships, may promote well-being.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a theoretically based, culturally specific family intervention designed to prevent youth risky behaviors by influencing the parenting attitudes and behaviors of nonresident African American fathers and the parent-child interactions, intentions to avoid violence, and aggressive behaviors of their preadolescent sons. A sample of 158 intervention and 129 comparison group families participated. ANCOVA results indicated that the intervention was promising for enhancing parental monitoring, communication about sex, intentions to communicate, race-related socialization practices, and parenting skills satisfaction among fathers. The intervention was also beneficial for sons who reported more monitoring by their fathers, improved communication about sex, and increased intentions to avoid violence. The intervention was not effective in reducing aggressive behaviors among sons. Findings are discussed from a family support perspective, including the need to involve nonresident African American fathers in youth risky behavior prevention efforts.

The present study examined the joint effects of having a parent with a psychological or physical disability and of stressful life events on the mental health of schoolage adolescents. Three groups of adolescents were compared: 16 adolescent children of a depressed parent, 16 adolescent children of a parent with rheumatoid arthritis, and 16 adolescent children of parents free from psychological or physical disability. In contrast to the normal group, children of an arthritic parent reported lower self-esteem, whereas children of a depressed parent reported both lower self-esteem and more symptomatology. However, the two risk groups did not differ in terms of mental health or family and school adjustment. Both negative and positive life events were strongly related to poorer adjustment, but only for the depressed and arthritic groups. There was a significant interaction effect of parental disability (depressed vs. normal) and negative life events on symptomatology, with adolescent children of a depressed parent who experienced few negative life events reporting symptom levels equivalent to that of the normal group. Within-group analyses revealed that a positive family social climate was related to better adjustment among all three groups; satisfactory school involvements "Xr" S^dTsent to Barton , P~d parent to other psychiatric risk groups Hirsch, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, also find elevated rates ot disturbance among 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820. the affective group. For example, children of 154 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.