Abstract
The current study evaluated associations between attending a community-based youth program, neighborhood problems, and child depressive symptoms in a sample of 147 children (mean [M] age=8.22 years, 54.4% male). Findings suggested that both program attendance and neighborhood problems were uniquely associated with child depressive symptoms while also considering the variance associated with child delinquency, such that high levels of attendance and low levels of neighborhood problems were associated with low levels of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, a marginally statistically significant trend (p<.06) for program attendance to buffer the effects of neighborhood problems on child depressive symptoms was found. Implications for findings are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.