Is There a Geographic

1
Is There a Geographic Clustering of Socially
Subordinate or Dominant Children?
Jay Douillard Jelena Obradovic Tom Boyce
2
The Nonrandom Distribution of Childhood
Morbidities
Biomedical/Psychiatric Morbidities Health Care
Utilization
3
Two Principal Stress Responsive Neural
CircuitsThe CRH System and the locus
coeruleus-NE System
4
Individual Differences in Biological Reactivity
to Psychological Challenge

• Measures of autonomic and adrenocortical
  reactivity to highly standardized laboratory
  stressors
• Impedance cardiography
• Salivary cortisol
• Broad individual variability in magnitude and
  patterns of response

5
Neurobiological Sensitivityto Social Contexts
Maskrosbarn (Sw) dandelion child
Orkidebarn orchid child
6
2. Hierarchical Social Organization

• Primate species stable, linearly transitive
  social hierarchies
• Subordinate positions upregulated adrenocortical
  function, impaired immune competence, decreased
  resistance to disease
• Human children as young as two form similar
  social orders
• Are the hierarchical structures of young children
  a developmental precursor of stratified adult
  societies?
• Are subordinate positions associated with greater
  stress reactivity and stress-related morbidities?

7
Observational Measuresof Social Ordering
1
2
3
4
5
Social dominance a pattern of repeated
encounters in which the outcome consistently
favors the same dyad member Dominance
observations critical event and scan sampling
over 3-5 weeks Behaviors physical attack,
imitation, directing, threat, relational
aggression
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

16

8
The Peers and Wellness Study (PAWS)
Teacher Reports on Peer Processes
ANS/HPA reactivity
Parent, Teacher and Child Reports on Physical and
Mental Health (core PCA scores)
KG
G1
N 300 5 year olds
PNP exams (every 2 wks)

• Social rank assessments
• Critical event and scan sampling of dominance
  interactions
• Teacher ratings of social rank

9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
How does the childs neighborhood context affect
social position, biological sensitivity to
context, and health outcomes?
13
(No Transcript)
14
Morans I Spatial Autocorrelation
Strong
Weak
Homogeneous
Heterogeneous
15
Everything depends on everything else, but
closer things more so -Toblers First Law of
Geography
16
Local Indicators of Spatial Association
17
LISA Of Doctorates
18
LISA Of Income
19
LISA Of Bachelors or Higher
20
LISA Of Families in Poverty
21
Allows us to compare children in similar types of
neighbourhood clusters
22
Is there a relationship between
family-neighbourhood wealth differences and
social hierarchy?
23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30

• Questions for Further Analysis
• Why do high SES children living in high SES
  neighborhoods perceive themselves as occupying
  lower social positions in kindergarten
  classrooms?
• Are socioeconomically mixed neighborhoods better
  for childrens physical and mental health?
• Others?