Table 1.

Survey questions, response options, and categorization of responses related to neighborhood characteristics captured in the 2020-2021 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH).

Neighborhood characteristic	Survey description	Survey questions	Survey response	NSCH categorization of survey responses
Neighborhood support	Does this child live in a supportive neighborhood?	1) People in this neighborhood help each other out 2) We watch out for each other’s children in this neighborhood 3) When we encounter difficulties, we know where to go for help in our community	Definitely agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Definitely disagree	1)Yes 2)No In the NSCH, children are considered to live in supportive neighborhoods if their parents reported “definitely agree” to at least one of the items and “somewhat agree” or “definitely agree” to the other two items.
Neighborhood safety	Does this child live in a safe neighborhood?	This child is safe in our neighborhood	Definitely agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Definitely disagree	Safe: Definitely agree or somewhat agree Not safe: Somewhat/Definitely disagree
School safety	Is this child safe at school?	This child is safe at school	Definitely agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Definitely disagree	Safe: Definitely agree or somewhat agree Not safe: Somewhat/Definitely disagree
Neighborhood amenities	Does this child live in a neighborhood that contains certain amenities -- parks, recreation centers, sidewalks, or libraries?	In your neighborhood are there: • Sidewalks or walking paths? • A park or playground? • A recreation center, community center, or boys’ and girls’ club? • A library or bookmobile?	Yes/No to each question This measure counts how many of four amenities are present in the child’s neighborhood	Number of amenities: 1)All 4 amenities 2) 3 amenities 3) 2 amenities 4) 1 amenity 5) None
Neighborhood detracting elements	Does this child live in a neighborhood where there is litter or garbage on the street or sidewalk, poorly kept or rundown housing, or vandalism such as broken windows and graffiti?	In your neighborhood are there: • Litter or garbage on the street/sidewalk? • Poorly kept or rundown housing? • Vandalism such as broken windows or graffiti?	Yes/No to each question This measure counts how many of three detracting elements are present in the child’s neighborhood	Number of detracting elements: 1)None 2) 1 detracting element 3) 2 detracting elements 4) All 3 detracting elements