• Overview

The studies described in this section examine clusters of neighborhood characteristics and their association with health. They use various approaches to measure neighborhood conditions. Specific studies focus on one or more of the following: crime and violence, lighting at night, traffic, noise, trash and litter, access to public transportation, median income levels, median education levels, percentage of people unemployed, percentage of home ownership, residential stability, building conditions, air quality, places to shop, number of elderly living alone, and housing quality.

Neighborhood problems have been found in some of the studies to be associated in adults and youth with psychological distress, including depression, substance abuse, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Neighborhood problems have also been associated with self-reported poor health, mortality, smoking-related diseases, diabetic eye disorders, loss of function in older adults, coronary heart disease, and low birthweight. Some studies found a linear relationship between neighborhood conditions and health, suggesting that the effects of place are not limited to areas with the poorest neighborhood conditions. There is some evidence from the studies that social support may help reduce the health risks of living in an environment with multiple problems.

Studying the effects of clusters of neighborhood problems may yield a better understanding of the effects of neighborhoods on health than would isolated risk factors. On the basis of their research, many of the authors recommend that health improvement efforts focus on improving individual resources and social connections, as well as the quality of neighborhoods and overall communal life.

Aneshensel CS, Sucoff C. The neighborhood context of adolescent mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 1996;37:293-310.

Balfour J, Kaplan G. Neighborhood environment and loss of physical function in older adults: evidence from the Alameda County study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2002;155:507-515.

Collins JW, David RJ. Urban violence and African-American pregnancy outcome: an ecologic study. Ethnicity and Disease. 1997;7:184-190.

Diez Roux AV, Merkin SS, et al. Neighborhood of residence and incidence of coronary heart disease. New England Journal of Medicine. 2001;345:99-106.

Drukker M, Van Os J. Mediators of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and quality of life. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2003;38:698-706.

Eachus J, Williams M, et al. Deprivation and cause specific morbidity: evidence from the Somerset and Avon survey of health. British Medical Journal. 1996;312:287-292.

Eames M, Ben-Shlomo Y, Marmot MG. Social deprivation and premature mortality: regional comparison across England. British Medical Journal. 1993;307:1097-1102.

Fang J, Madhavan S, Alderman MH. Low birth weight: race and maternal nativity-impact of community income. Pediatrics. 1999;317:749-753.

Garbarino J, Dubrow N, Kostelny K, Pardo C. Children in Danger: Coping with the Consequences of Community Violence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers; 1992.

Harburg E, et al. Socioecological stressor areas and black-white blood pressure: Detroit. Journal of Chronic Disease. 1973;26:595-611.

Kaplan GA. People and places: contrasting perspectives on the association between social class and health. International Journal of Health Services. 1996;26:507-519.

Klinenberg E. Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 2002.

Krause N. Neighborhood deterioration and self-rated health in later life. Psychology and Aging. 1996;11:342-352.

Latkin CA, Curry AD. Stressful neighborhoods and depression: a prospective study of the impact of neighborhood disorder. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 2003;44:34-44.

Malmstrom M, et al. Neighborhood environment and self-reported health status: a multilevel analysis. American Journal of Public Health. 1999;89:1181-1186.

O'Campo P, Aronson R, Johnson T. Economic, physical, and political characteristics of neighborhood of residence and risk of low birth weight, Working Paper WP-96-08. Baltimore, MD: Hopkins Population Center; 1996.

O'Campo P, Xue X, Wang MC, Caughy M. Neighborhood risk factors for low birthweight in Baltimore: a multilevel analysis. American Journal of Public Health. 1997;87:1113-1118.

Roberts EM. Neighborhood social environments and the distribution of low birthweight in Chicago. American Journal of Public Health. 1997;87:597-603.

Silver E, Mulvey EP, Swanson JW. Neighborhood structural characteristics and mental disorder: Faris and Dunham revisited. Social Science Medicine. 2002;55:1457-1470.

Steptoe A, Feldman PJ. Neighborhood problems as sources of chronic stress: development of a measure of neighborhood problems, and associations with socioeconomic status and health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2001;23:177-185.

Sundquist K, Malmström M, Johansson SE. Neighbourhood deprivation and incidence of coronary heart disease: a multilevel study of 2.6 million women and men in Sweden. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2004;58:71-77.

Yen IH, Kaplan GA. Neighborhood social environment and 11-year risk of death: multilevel evidence from the Alameda County study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1999;149:898-907.