Exploring neighborhood environmental influences on reading comprehension

This study examined the association between neighborhood environment and reading using geocoding techniques. Addresses and FCAT reading scores for 2215 (751 MZ, 1464 DZ) twin pairs in 3rd through 10th grades were obtained from The Florida Twin Project on Reading (FTP-R). Additionally, addresses for neighborhood features were collected from publicly available data sources. Distances between participants' homes and potential risk and protective aspects of neighborhood environment were calculated using ArcGIS and used to predict reading comprehension. Results indicated that shelter proximity was negatively associated with FCAT reading after accounting for neighborhood SES. This study also found that distance to shelters explained a significant proportion (0.01–0.02%) of shared environmental influence, marking an additional component of shared environmental influences on reading. These results develop a more comprehensive model of the influences involved in reading achievement and highlight the need for further research on how shelter populations and conditions may influence residents nearby.
Source: Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology - Category: Child Development Source Type: research