Neighborhood residential segregation and mental health: A multilevel analysis on Hispanic Americans in Chicago

Compared with the relationship between neighborhood-level residential segregation and physical health of Hispanic Americans, less is known about how neighborhood residential segregation affects mental health. This study examines if, and how, neighborhood residential segregation is associated with the mental health of Puerto Rican and Mexican Americans in Chicago. Multilevel analyses reveal that neighborhood residential segregation is positively associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety in both groups. Neighborhood segregation, however, has more salient effects on the mental health of Mexican Americans. For Puerto Rican Americans, the effects of neighborhood segregation on mental health become nonsignificant after controlling for neighborhood-level income and individual-level covariates, whereas neighborhood segregation is strongly associated with the mental health of Mexican Americans even after controlling for other covariates. These findings show that living in a Mexican American-dominated community is not beneficial to mental health, in contrast to findings for physical health shown in previous studies.     

Neighborhood socioeconomic status and adherence to dietary recommendations among Finnish adults: A retrospective follow-up study

Neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with dietary habits among the residents, but few studies have examined this association separately among long-term residents and movers. We calculated cumulative neighborhood SES score weighted by residential time in each address over 6 years for non-movers (n = 7704) and movers (n = 8818) using national grid database. Increase in average neighborhood SES was associated with higher adherence to dietary recommendations in both groups. Among the movers, an upward trajectory from low to high neighborhood SES was also associated with better adherence. Our findings suggest high SES areas might offer healthier food environments than low SES areas.     

The importance of social context: neighborhood stressors, stress-buffering mechanisms, and alcohol, drug, and mental health disorders

This study examines the relationship among neighborhood stressors, stress-buffering mechanisms, and likelihood of alcohol, drug, and mental health (ADM) disorders in adults from 60 US communities (n=12,716). Research shows that larger support structures may interact with individual support factors to affect mental health, but few studies have explored buffering effects of these neighborhood characteristics. We test a conceptual model that explores effects of neighborhood stressors and stress-buffering mechanisms on ADM disorders. Using Health Care for Communities with census and other data, we found a lower likelihood of disorders in neighborhoods with a greater presence of stress-buffering mechanisms. Higher neighborhood average household occupancy and churches per capita were associated with a lower likelihood of disorders. Cross-level interactions revealed that violence-exposed individuals in high crime neighborhoods are vulnerable to depressive/anxiety disorders. Likewise, individuals with low social support in neighborhoods with high social isolation (i.e., low-average household occupancy) had a higher likelihood of disorders. If replicated by future studies using longitudinal data, our results have implications for policies and programs targeting neighborhoods to reduce ADM disorders.     

Associations of neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion with mental health and health behaviors: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Few studies have investigated the specific features implicated in neighborhood-health associations. We examined associations between measures of neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion with depression, smoking, drinking, and walking for exercise in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort. Neighborhoods were characterized according to participant self-report and aggregated measures based on other MESA participants. Individuals living in the least problematic neighborhoods were significantly less likely to be depressed, to smoke, or to drink. Less socially cohesive neighborhoods were associated with increased depression, smoking, and not walking for exercise. Results persisted after adjusting for individual-level variables. Each measure appeared to capture distinct features of the neighborhood and associations did not differ by race/ethnicity. Results for neighborhood problems were robust to the use of aggregate measures but results for social cohesion generally were not. Future work should determine the health effect of modifying specific features of the neighborhood context.     

Family functioning as a mediator between neighborhood conditions and children's health: evidence from a national survey in the United States

This study examines whether the associations between neighborhood conditions and children's health can be indirect and operate through aspects of family functioning. We use data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health in the United States with the interviewed parents/guardians as the only source of the data. Our study sample includes 53,023 children aged between 6 and 17 years. Using structural equation modeling, we test both direct and indirect relationships between a family functioning index, a general indicator of children's health status, and three neighborhood factors: neighborhood physical resources, environmental threats, and collective efficacy. Covariates in the analysis include gender, age, income, race, family structure, parental education, and health insurance coverage. All the three neighborhood factors show direct associations with children's general health status, as well as indirect associations mediated by aspects of family functioning. Among the three neighborhood factors, collective efficacy and environmental threats are found to have much stronger associations with children's general health than physical resources. When designing health-promoting neighborhoods for children and families, it may be more efficient for urban planners and health professionals to focus on community programs that reduce environmental stressors and foster neighborhood cohesion than programs that solely improve physical infrastructure. This study also verifies that aspects of family functioning mediate the associations between neighborhood conditions and children's health. It is recommended that both family and neighborhood are critical points for child health intervention.     

Neo-Marxist class position and socioeconomic status: Distinct or complementary determinants of health?

Although the relationship between socioeconomic status and health has received careful attention from health researchers over the past half-century, the means by which income, education and occupational prestige are accumulated in society have received relatively short shrift in the health literature. This article explores the degree to which neo-Marxist conceptualizations of class position are ‘upstream’ determinants of health and well-being. Utilizing data from a survey sample of randomly selected and full-time employed residents of 25 communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia, it evaluates the usefulness of class position distinctions derived from the work of Erik Olin Wright as predictors of physical and mental health before and after controlling for socioeconomic status.     

On the empirical association between poor health and low socioeconomic status at old age

Epidemiologic studies using mortality rates as indicators of health fail to find any meaningful association between poor health and low socioeconomic status in older age-groups, whereas economic studies using self-assessed health consistently find a significant positive correlation, even after controlling for self-reporting errors. Such contradictory results have not been reported for working age individuals. A simple explanation might be that the elderly samples on which the epidemiologic and economic studies are based come from different populations. However, this paper shows that similar contradictory results are obtained even when the same samples are used, simply by switching between self-assessed health and mortality as health indicators. An alternative explanation is proposed, namely that these health indicators yield different results because they relate to different ranges of the latent health variable at old age.     

The shadow of context: Neighborhood and school socioeconomic disadvantage,perceived social integration,and the mental and behavioral health of adolescents

The number of youths who experience mental distress has been increasing over the past years. Adolescents with mental health problems also show high rates of co-occurring substance-related behaviors such as illicit drug use. This study leverages large-scale and nationally representative Add Health data to evaluate whether the risks conferred by neighborhood and school socioeconomic disadvantages adversely impact adolescents' mental and behavioral health (i.e., depressive symptoms and illicit drug use). We further investigate whether levels of perceived social support from friends, parents, and teachers moderate the associations between contextual disadvantages and adolescents' mental and behavioral outcomes. Results from cross-classified multilevel modeling analysis suggest that neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantages, and to a lesser degree, school socioeconomic disadvantages, uniquely and simultaneously predict mental and behavioral outcomes of adolescents. Although social support is likely to offset the mental and behavioral consequences of disadvantaged social context to all, high levels of social support is most protective for adolescents of least disadvantaged neighborhoods. This study highlights the possibility that structural disadvantage— within both the school and neighborhood contexts—may adversely impact adolescents’ mental well-being and increase their risk for illicit drug use.     

Examine the associations between perceived neighborhood conditions,physical activity,and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study examined how neighborhood conditions changed and how neighborhood conditions were associated with physical activity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic among Americans. The major outcomes were stratified by the neighborhood's poverty and regression models were used to assess the associations between neighborhood conditions and their change during the pandemic and the outcomes of physical activity and mental health. The results show that low-poverty neighborhoods had more health-promoting neighborhood conditions before the outbreak and more positive changes during the outbreak. Health-promoting neighborhood conditions were associated with higher physical activity and moderate physical activity and lack of negative neighborhood conditions such as crime/violence and traffic were associated with a lower risk of mental health problems including loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Mental health problems were also significantly associated with the COVID-19 infection and death and household income level. Our findings suggest that it is plausible that the disparities of physical activity and mental health by neighborhood exacerbate due to the pandemic and people who living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods bear increasingly disproportionate burden.     

Predictors of elderly mortality: health status, socioeconomic characteristics and social determinants of health

This paper uses longitudinal survey data from Taiwan to investigate the predictors of elderly mortality. The empirical analysis confirms a relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and mortality, but this relationship weakens considerably when estimates are conditional on the health status at the time of the first wave survey. In terms of predictive power, the models with an activities of daily living index fare better (as opposed to models with self-evaluated health or self-reported illnesses). Having said that there is a payoff to the consideration of self-evaluated health jointly with other 'objective' health indicators. Other findings include a strong association between life satisfaction and survival, which prevails even after controlling for other explanatory variables.     

My neighborhood has a good reputation: Associations between spatial stigma and health

Health researchers increasingly recognize the influence of spatial stigma, or negative reputation of place, as a social determinant of health. Drawing from a New Haven-based cohort study (n = 251), we assessed the relationships between spatial stigma, self-rated health, and psychological distress using generalized estimating equation models. Adjusting for neighborhood-level poverty and racial composition, those who perceived living in spatially stigmatized neighborhoods were significantly more likely to report severe psychological distress compared to those that did not perceive their neighborhoods to be stigmatized (B = 1.09, CI: 0.31, 1.87). Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature that suggests that socially constructed meanings of place may influence health.     

河南省老年人社会经济地位对精神健康的影响研究——以医疗保险和居住安排为中介变量

目的 分析河南省老年人社会经济地位与精神健康的关系.方法 使用多阶段分层整群抽样方法,以河南省18个省辖市的5 570名60岁及以上老年人为研究对象,采用有序logistic回归模型分析社会经济地位对老年人精神健康的影响,探讨医疗保险和居住安排的中介效应.结果 河南省老年人精神健康受损1 999人,受损率35.89％....     

公安民警睡眠状况与其心理健康以及生活幸福感的关系

目的通过描述公安民警睡眠状况、心理健康及生活幸福感的现状,进一步探讨其睡眠与心理健康及生活幸福感之间的关系。方法采用整群随机抽样法在山西省晋城市交警、巡警、特警和户籍警4种警种中共抽取公安民警200名,采用自编公安民警睡眠质量调查问卷、SCL-90症状自评量表和总体幸福感量表进行调查。结果 SCL-90的躯体化、强迫症状、抑郁、焦虑、敌对、睡眠与饮食各维度及总分与睡眠时长有差异,且不同时间段（〉8 h与6~8 h,〉8 h与〈6 h）的组间差异有统计学意义（P〈0.01）。民警的总体幸福感表现在对生活的满足与兴趣、精力、忧郁或愉快心境方面差异有统计学意义（〉8 h：F=5.47,P=0.005;6~8 h：F=5.12,P=0.007;〈6 h：F=4.33,P=0.014）。SCL-90与总体幸福感之间存在显著相关（0.4≤｜r｜〈0.7）,且民警对幸福感以及情感和行为的控制水平关注较高（0.2≤｜r｜〈0.4）,而对自身健康的关注水平则较低（｜r｜〈0.2）。结论民警心理健康水平低于一般人群;睡眠越充足,心理健康水平越高,总体幸福感越高。     

Subjective and objective neighborhood characteristics and adult health

This study examines both objective and subjective assessments of neighborhood conditions, exploring the overlap between different sources of information on neighborhoods and the relative strength of their association with adult self-rated health. Data on perceived neighborhood quality from Wave IV (2001/2002) of the nationally representative U.S. Americans Changing Lives study are merged with neighborhood-level census tract data to measure subjective and objective neighborhood constructs. Structural equation models indicate that subjective and objective constructs are both related to health. However, the subjective construct (perceived neighborhood quality) is most strongly associated with health and mediates associations between health and the objective constructs (neighborhood disadvantage and affluence). Additionally, individual characteristics play an important role in shaping the contribution of neighborhood conditions through selection and mediation. Our results demonstrate the independent associations between both objective and perceived neighborhood quality and health, and highlight the particularly strong association between perceived neighborhood quality and health.     

Social ties and mental health

It is generally agreed that social ties play a beneficial role in the maintenance of psychological well-being. In this targeted review, we highlight four sets of insights that emerge from the literature on social ties and mental health outcomes (defined as stress reactions, psychological well-being, and psychological distress, including depressive symptoms and anxiety). First, the pathways by which social networks and social supports influence mental health can be described by two alternative (although not mutually exclusive) causal models—the main effect model and the stress-buffering model. Second, the protective effects of social ties on mental health are not uniform across groups in society. Gender differences in support derived from social network participation may partly account for the higher prevalence of psychological distress among women compared to men. Social connections may paradoxically increase levels of mental illness symptoms among women with low resources, especially if such connections entail role strain associated with obligations to provide social support to others. Third, egocentric networks are nested within a broader structure of social relationships. The notion of social capital embraces the embeddedness of individual social ties within the broader social structure. Fourth, despite some successes reported in social support interventions to enhance mental health, further work is needed to deepen our understanding of the design, timing, and dose of interventions that work, as well as the characteristics of individuals who benefit the most.     

农村地区老年人自评身体状况和睡眠质量的关系研究——心理健康的中介作用

目的 探讨心理健康在农村地区老年人自评身体状况和睡眠质量间的中介作用。方法 采用EQ-5D量表中的VAS评分、GHQ-12老年人健康问卷和匹兹堡睡眠质量量表(PSQI)分别评估老年人自评身体状况、心理健康和睡眠质量;采用bootstrap法进行中介效应检验。结果 自评身体状况与睡眠质量、身体健康得分呈负相关(r=-0.422,-0.224, P<0.001),心理健康与睡眠质量得分呈正相关(r=0.258, P<0.001);中介作用结果显示,农村地区老年人的心理健康在自评身体状况与睡眠质量之间起部分中介作用,其中介效应值为-0.476 (95%CI:-0.648～-0.319),占总效应的39.18%。结论 自评身体状况与睡眠质量存在关联,同时,心理健康在其中发挥了部分中介的作用。     

职业病患者社会支持与心理健康的相关性研究

目的 研究职业病患者的社会支持与心理健康状况及其之间的相关性,为提高职业病患者的心理健康水平提供决策依据。 方法 采用社会支持评定量表(SSRS)和症状自评量表(SCL-90)对135例职业病住院患者的社会支持、心理健康状况及其影响因素进行研究,运用SPSS 19.0软件对调查数据进行统计学处理。 结果 135例职业病患者SCL-90的平均总分为(178.56 ±66.96)分,9项因子平均分最小值为(1.72 ±0.73)分,最大为(2.25 ±1.01)分。总分和9项因子分均高于国内常模,各项得分在两者之间比较,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.01)。职业病患者的社会支持总分、客观支持、主观支持及支持利用度得分均低于国内常模(P<0.01)。男性职业病患者的各项得分均高于女性患者(P<0.05或0.01),年龄大的职业病患者的各项得分均高于年龄小的患者(P<0.05或0.01),工伤医疗组和单位支付组各项得分均高于自费组(P<0.05),学历高的职业性病患者在客观支持上得分高于学历低的患者(P<0.05或0.01),已婚组获得的社会支持总分、主观支持、客观支持得分都高于未婚组及离异或丧偶组(P<0.05),重度病情的职业病患者在社会支持总分、客观支持得分上高于中、轻度两组患者(P<0.01),家庭收入低的患者在其社会支持总分、客观支持、支持利用度上的得分低于家庭收入高的患者(P<0.05或0.01)。职业病患者的社会支持总分、主观支持得分与其躯体化、强迫症状、人际关系敏感、焦虑、恐怖、偏执等因子均呈负相关(P<0.05或0.01)。 结论 职业病患者获得的社会支持较低,与其心理健康状况差有一定的相关性,应引起我们注意。     

大学生心理韧性在手机成瘾与心理健康间的中介作用

目的了解大学生手机成瘾、心理韧性与心理健康关系及心理韧性的中介作用。方法采用一般资料调查问卷,手机成瘾指数量表(MPAI)、抑郁-焦虑-压力量表(DASS-21)、心理韧性量表(RS-14)对安徽省某高校578名大学本科生进行问卷调查。结果手机成瘾与抑郁、焦虑、压力均呈正向相关关系(r=0.411、0.451、0.455,P<0.01);手机成瘾与心理韧性呈负向相关关系(r=-0.126,P<0.01);心理韧性与抑郁、焦虑、压力均呈负向相关关系(r=-0.387、-0.334、-0.299,P<0.01)。心理韧性在手机成瘾与心理健康之间起部分中介作用(中介效应值为0.08)。结论大学生心理韧性在手机成瘾与心理健康之间起中介作用,通过加强大学生心理韧性训练,可缓解手机成瘾对其心理健康的不良影响。     

肺结核患者心理状况与服药依从性的研究

目的：了解杭州市肺结核患者心理状况与服药依从性的关系。方法采用系统抽样方法,对杭州市≥15周岁的973例肺结核患者进行问卷调查,包括社会人口学资料和焦虑自评量表（SAS）、抑郁量表（CESD）、自杀行为及Morisky服药依从性量表（MMAS）调查,并进行相关分析。结果肺结核患者SAS和CESD平均得分（39.71±8.30）和（14.16±10.77）分,均高于常模人群（P＜0.01）。SAS得分≥50分者占10.48％,CESD得分≥16分占34.22％。6.17％在确诊肺结核之后曾经认真地考虑过结束自己的生命。20.55％服药依从性差,该组焦虑、抑郁和自杀意念发生率分别为15.50％、46.50％和11.00％,均高于服药依从性好组的9.18％、30.66％和4.92％（P＜0.01）。服药依从性差组社会支持总分（30.71±5.15）分及客观支持（4.61±2.07）分、主观支持（19.74±4.55）分和支持利用度（6.34±1.93）分等三个维度得分均低于服药依从性好组的（34.06±7.39）、（6.62±2.27）、（20.67±5.27）和（6.77±2.23）分（P＜0.01）。结论杭州市肺结核患者服药依从性与焦虑、抑郁和自杀意念等心理状况有关,建议对服药依从性差的肺结核患者开展心理干预。