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A Canadian Neighbourhood Index for Socioeconomic Status Associated with Early Child Development

Author

Listed:
  • Barry Forer

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Anita Minh

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Jennifer Enns

    (University of Manitoba)

  • Simon Webb

    (McMaster University)

  • Eric Duku

    (McMaster University)

  • Marni Brownell

    (University of Manitoba)

  • Nazeem Muhajarine

    (University of Saskatchewan)

  • Magdalena Janus

    (McMaster University)

  • Martin Guhn

    (University of British Columbia)

Abstract

Neighbourhoods encompass the social, institutional, and environmental determinants that influence the developmental health of the children who reside in them. A number of different socioeconomic indices have been developed to determine which neighbourhood-level indicators are most strongly associated with early child development outcomes in Canada. While these indices attempt to account for variability in outcomes across neighbourhoods, they have some important limitations: they either do not use indicators meaningful for families with young children or they are based on a large number of indicators. Here we describe how we developed a new index, the Canadian Neighbourhoods Early Child Development (CanNECD) SES Index, which addresses these limitations. Socioeconomic and demographic variables for custom-defined neighbourhoods were obtained from Canada Census and income tax data. Measures of developmental health came from the Early Development Instrument, a teacher-completed questionnaire measuring vulnerability across five developmental domains in kindergarten. We selected variables for the index based on empirical relationships to health and/or social determinants of health, then used exploratory factor analyses and linear regressions to choose ten variables that maximized explanatory power and interpretability for developmental health. The CanNECD SES Index accounts for 32% of the variance in neighbourhood-level overall vulnerability across developmental domains, whereas existing indices account for 17% or less. Analyses within individual Canadian provinces indicate that the explanatory power of our index ranges from 13 to 42%. This new tool will help us understand patterns of children’s developmental health as they relate to social determinants of health. It can be used in combination with other datasets to examine neighbourhood effects on children’s developmental health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry Forer & Anita Minh & Jennifer Enns & Simon Webb & Eric Duku & Marni Brownell & Nazeem Muhajarine & Magdalena Janus & Martin Guhn, 2020. "A Canadian Neighbourhood Index for Socioeconomic Status Associated with Early Child Development," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1133-1154, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:13:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s12187-019-09666-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-019-09666-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jones, D.E. & Greenberg, M. & Crowley, M., 2015. "Early social-emotional functioning and public health: The relationship between kindergarten social competence and future wellness," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(11), pages 2283-2290.
    2. Barry Forer & Bruno Zumbo, 2011. "Validation of Multilevel Constructs: Validation Methods and Empirical Findings for the EDI," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(2), pages 231-265, September.
    3. D. Thomas & Edward Hughes & Bruno Zumbo, 1998. "On Variable Importance in Linear Regression," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 253-275, November.
    4. Magdalena Janus & Sally Brinkman & Eric Duku, 2011. "Validity and Psychometric Properties of the Early Development Instrument in Canada, Australia, United States, and Jamaica," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(2), pages 283-297, September.
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