Living in a very safe neighborhood is associated with higher kindergarten curiosity, but only for lower- and middle-resourced children¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2–r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In the main effects model, children in very safe neighborhoods had higher curiosity than children in fairly safe (ref) neighborhoods (β = 0.07, p = 0.002), with no difference for unsafe vs fairly safe (β = 0.01, p = 0.42). → Shah PE 2023 q3 i? The association between neighborhood safety and curiosity was moderated by SES (p = 0.008): very safe vs fairly safe was significant for lower-resourced (β = 0.10, p = 0.009) and middle-resourced (β = 0.10, p = 0.01) children, but not higher-resourced children (p = 0.99). → Shah PE 2023 (2)

Evidence¶

Shah PE 2023¶

Shah PE, Hirsh-Pasek K, Spinelli M, Ozor J, Weeks HM, McCaffery H and Kaciroti N (2023). Ecological contexts associated with early childhood curiosity: Neighborhood safety, home and parenting quality, and socioeconomic status. Front. Psychol. 14:986221. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.986221

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Adjusted main-effects regression on the weighted ECLS-B sample (N = 4,750); neighborhood safety was parent-reported and trichotomized (unsafe, fairly safe ref, very safe). The article reports "β = 0.07, p = 0.002" for very safe vs fairly safe.

"children who lived in “very safe” neighborhoods had higher levels of parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten, compared to children who lived in “fairly safe” (ref) neighborhoods, ( β = 0.07, p = 0.002)."

Shah PE 2023 (2)¶

Shah PE, Hirsh-Pasek K, Spinelli M, Ozor J, Weeks HM, McCaffery H and Kaciroti N (2023). Ecological contexts associated with early childhood curiosity: Neighborhood safety, home and parenting quality, and socioeconomic status. Front. Psychol. 14:986221. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.986221

q3 · i? · associational · r2

SES-stratified models following a significant safety × SES interaction (p = 0.008), on the same weighted ECLS-B sample. Very safe vs fairly safe was significant for lower-resourced ("β = 0.10, p = 0.009") and middle-resourced (β = 0.10, p = 0.01) children; for higher-resourced children safety was not associated with curiosity (p = 0.99).

"Lower-resourced children living in “very safe” neighborhoods demonstrated higher kindergarten curiosity compared with lower-resourced children who lived in “fairly safe” neighborhoods (β = 0.10, p = 0.009)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Interest — outcome: instruction changes it
• Safety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Higher SES is associated with higher parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten — related
• More positive parenting is associated with higher parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten in a nationally representative US sample — related
• In very safe neighborhoods, curiosity does not differ between lower-resourced and higher-resourced children, while a gap appears in fairly safe neighborhoods — related
• Higher-quality home environments are associated with higher parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten — related
• Enrollment in center-based preschool was not associated with parent-reported curiosity at kindergarten — related