CHILDREN WHO PROSPER IN UNFAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTS - THE RELATIONSHIP TO SOCIAL CAPITAL

Objective. Social capital describes the benefits that are derived from personal social relationships (within families and communities) and s ocial affiliations. This investigation examined the extent to which so cial capital is associated with positive developmental and behavioral outcomes in high-risk preschool children. Design. A cross-sectional ca se-control analysis of young children ''doing well'' and ''not doing w ell'' at baseline in four coordinated longitudinal studies. Participan ts. A total of 667 2- to 5-year-old children (mean age, 4.4 years) and their maternal caregivers who are participating in the Longitudinal S tudies of Chile: Abuse and Neglect Consortium. At recruitment, all chi ldren were characterized by unfavorable social or economic circumstanc es that contributed to the identification of the children as high risk . Measures. Social capital was defined as benefits that accrue from so cial relationships within communities and families. A social capital i ndex was created by assigning one point to each of the following indic ators: I) two parents or parent-figures in the home; 2) social support of the maternal caregiver 3) no more than two children in the family; 4) neighborhood support; and 5) regular church attendance. Outcomes w ere measured with the Child Behavior Checklist, a widely used measure of behavioral/emotional problems, and with the Battelle Developmental Inventory Screening Test; a standardized test that identifies developm ental deficits. Children were classified as doing well if their scares on these instruments indicated neither behavioral nor developmental p roblems. Results. Only 13% of the children were classified as doing we ll. The individual indicators that best discriminated between levels o f child functioning were the most direct measures of social capital-ch urch affiliation, perception of personal social support, and support w ithin the neighborhood. The social capital index was strongly associat ed with child well-being, more so than any single indicator. The prese nce of any social capital indicator increased the odds of doing well b y 29%; adding any two increased the odds of doing well by 66%. Conclus ions. Our findings suggest that social capital may have an impact on c hildren's well-being as early as the preschool years. In these years i t seems to be the parents' social capital that confers benefits on the ir off-spring, just as children benefit from their parents' financial and human capital. Social capital may be most crucial far families who have fewer financial and educational resources. Our findings suggest that those interested in the healthy development of children, particul arly children most at risk for poor developmental outcomes, must searc h for new and creative ways of supporting interpersonal relationships and strengthening the communities in which families carry out the dail y activities of their lives.