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This research paper describes a working-class suburban neighborhood for the pre-WWII period 1900-1940. The data are accumulated from tax assessment records, as these are extremely accurate and contain a large variety of information suitable for this study. The main objective is to describe the characteristics of Union Park in Hamilton, Ontario, using the years 1911, 1921 and 1931 as representative of the time period. Three areas of concern were focused on: the occupational characteristics of the inhabitants, describing the inhabitants homes based on building values, and determining characteristics of construction in the area as either owner-built or speculatively built. In general the results show that the area was predominantly working-class, the homes were very cheap in relative value and that the area was primarily owner-built for the period of study. Interesting variations were observed and possible reasons for such variations are suggested. / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

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Neighborhoods are composed of physical, social, and cultural environmental factors that influence health and health behaviors. These factors include chronic stressors that are associated with premature mortality. Determining the role of neighborhoods on health is challenging due to individual exposure to multiple types of stressors, and discerning effects of individual stressors from co-occurring neighborhood stressors. This dissertation investigates the role of neighborhood and individual stressors on physical activity, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms in the environmental justice community of Chelsea, Massachusetts. We interview 354 Chelsea residents aged 18 years and older using open- and closed-ended questions that address health-related topics and perceptions of the environment. We use GIS-based methods to map resident-defined neighborhoods and their relation to attributes of the physical environment, and regression models to quantify relationships between neighborhood factors and individual stressors with health outcomes. We also incorporate responses to open-ended interview questions to develop physical activity outcomes. We report positive associations between exposure to neighborhood factors and adverse outcomes. Noise, feeling unsafe, and low social cohesion display positive correlations with poor self-rated health and depressive symptoms. Proximity to resident-preferred parks is positively correlated with physical activity, while knowledge of rape or sexual assault is inversely associated with physical activity. Individual stressors, such as health conditions and disability, are positively associated with all adverse outcomes. Including neighborhood factors and individual stressors in the same model does not change any associations. We conclude that neighborhood factors are independent sources of chronic stress that influence health and health behaviors. In the literature, the outcomes we study are associated with premature mortality. This fact, coupled with the associations we see between our outcomes and neighborhood factors, suggest that aspects of neighborhoods can increase risk for premature mortality. Health could also be improved on an individual level by providing resources to buffer against the negative effects of disability and reported financial problems, such as a sudden loss of income or food insecurity. Environmental policies related to neighborhood conditions should consider the effects of neighborhoods factors on health as a systematic method of improving health.

Thesis advisor: Rebekah Levine Coley / Research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has demonstrated the high prevalence rates of such experiences, with about 60% of individuals in national U.S. samples reporting one or more types of ACEs as children (Chapman et al., 2013; Finkelhor et al., 2015). Further, research has established robust links between ACEs and a range of negative behavioral and health outcomes in adulthood (Felitti et al., 1998; Hughes et al., 2017; Kalmakis & Chandler, 2015; Wang et al., 2020; Wang & Maguire-Jack, 2018; Wolff et al., 2018). Less is known about when potential negative consequences of ACEs exposure emerge. The few studies that have examined the relationship between ACEs and early outcomes have employed inconsistent modeling strategies which has left the functional form of the relationship unclear, which could lead to either under-or over-estimating the risk associated with various levels of ACEs exposure (Crouch et al., 2019; Hughes et al., 2017; Lanier et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2019). Further, these studies have not comprehensively examined the potential moderating role of socio-ecological factors like neighborhood context. Theoretical frameworks suggest neighborhood resources might buffer children from negative consequences associated with ACEs while exposure to neighborhood-level adversities might exacerbate negative consequences. In order to address these gaps, the currently study examined the functional form of the relationship between ACEs experienced in the first four years of life and kindergarten behavioral outcomes and tested the moderating role of neighborhood resources and neighborhood adversities in a large, nationally representative sample of young children drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N ≈ 10,700) linked with neighborhood administrative data. Using inverse probability weighting to strengthen internal validity, numerous modeling strategies supported a linear relationship between early childhood ACEs and kindergarten behavioral outcomes. Greater ACEs exposure was associated with significantly lower prosocial skills and significantly higher externalizing behavior problems, with small effect sizes of 0.075 to 0.143 standard deviation shifts in behaviors for each additional ACEs exposure. Interaction models found that ACEs were significantly associated with behavioral consequences regardless of neighborhood context. Overall, the robust modeling strategies employed provide the strongest evidence to date of the significant, linear relationship between ACEs and early behavioral consequences. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

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