Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Perceived and Objectively-Measured Neighborhood Violence and Adolescent Psychological Distress

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prior research examining links between neighborhood violence and mental health has not been able to establish whether it is perceived levels of neighborhood violence, or actual levels of violent crime, that matter most for adolescents’ psychological well-being. In this study, we ascertained both perceived neighborhood safety and objectively-measured neighborhood-level violent crime (using a novel geospatial index of police-reported crime incidents) for 4464 adolescent respondents from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2011–2014). We used propensity score-matched regression models to examine associations between these measures and CHIS adolescents’ symptoms of psychological distress. We found that adolescents who perceived their neighborhood to be unsafe were two times more likely than those who perceived their neighborhood to be safe to report serious psychological distress (OR = 2.4, 95 % CI = 1.20, 4.96). Adolescents who lived in areas objectively characterized by high levels of violent crime, however, were no more likely than their peers in safer areas to be distressed (OR = 1.41; 95 % CI = 0.60, 3.32). Our results suggest that, at the population level, adolescents’ perceptions of neighborhood violence, rather than objective levels of neighborhood crime, are most salient for their mental health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

FIGURE 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Turner HA, Shattuck A, Hamby S, Finkelhor D. Community disorder, victimization exposure, and mental health in a national sample of youth. J Health Soc Behav. 2013; 54(2): 258–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Fowler PJ, Tompsett CJ, Braciszewski JM, et al. Community violence: a meta-analysis on the effect of exposure and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents. Dev Psychopathol. 2009; 21(1): 227–59.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Mrug S, Windle M. Prospective effects of violence exposure across multiple contexts on early adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2010; 51(8): 953–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Slopen N, Fitzmaurice GM, Williams DR, Gilman SE. Common patterns of violence experiences and depression and anxiety among adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2012; 47(10): 1591–605.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Newbury J, Arseneault L, Caspi A, et al. Why are children in urban neighborhoods at increased risk for psychotic symptoms? findings from a UK longitudinal cohort study. Schizophr Bull. 2016; 1–12.

  6. Cooley-Strickland M, Quille TJ, Griffin RS, et al. Community violence and youth: affect, behavior, substance use, and academics. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2009; 12(2): 127–56.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Kessler RC, Duncan GJ, Gennetian LA, et al. Associations of housing mobility interventions for children in high-poverty neighborhoods with subsequent mental disorders during adolescence. JAMA. 2014; 311(9): 937–48.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Diez Roux AV, Mair C. Neighborhoods and health. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010; 1186(1): 125–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Selner-O’Hagan MB, Kindlon DJ, Buka SL, et al. Assessing exposure to violence in urban youth. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1998; 39(2): 215–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Sampson RJ, Raudenbush SW. Seeing disorder: neighborhood stigma and the social construction of “broken windows.”. Soc Psychol Q. 2004; 67(4): 319–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hill HM, Madhere S. Exposure to community violence and African American children: a multidimensional model of risks and resources. J Community Psychol. 1996; 24(1): 26–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kneeshaw-Price SH, Saelens BE, Sallis JF, et al. Neighborhood crime-related safety and its relation to children’s physical activity. J Urban Heal. 2015; 92(3): 472–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Meltzer H, Vostanis P, Goodman R, Ford T. Children’s perceptions of neighbourhood trustworthiness and safety and their mental health. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007; 48(12): 1208–13.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Chung HL, Slocum C, Proverbs T. Objective and perceived community factors: exploring responses to context. Am J Health Behav. 2013; 37(6): 763–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Fujiwara T, Kawachi I. A prospective study of individual-level social capital and major depression in the United States. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2008; 62(7): 627–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hill HM, Levermore M, Twaite J, Jones LP. Exposure to community violence and social support as predictors of anxiety and social and emotional behavior among African American children. J Child Fam Stud. 1996; 5(4): 399–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Curry A, Latkin C, Davey-Rothwell M. Pathways to depression: the impact of neighborhood violent crime on inner-city residents in Baltimore, Maryland. USA Soc Sci Med. 2008; 67(1): 23–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Dustmann C, Fasani F. The effect of local area crime on mental health. Econ J. 2014; 1–40.

  19. United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, 2013. Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation; 2014.

  20. Survey CHI. CHIS 2011–2012 methodology series: report 1—sample design. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; 2014.

  21. California Health Interview Survey. CHIS 2011–2012 methodology series: report 2—data collection methods. California Health Interview Survey. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; 2014.

  22. California Health Interview Survey. CHIS 2011–2012 methodology series: report 3—data processing procedures. California Health Interview Survey. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; 2014.

  23. California Health Interview Survey. CHIS 2011–2012 methodology series: report 4—response rates. California Health Interview Survey. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; 2014.

  24. California Health Interview. CHIS 2011–2012 methodology series: report 5—weighting and variance estimation. California Health Interview Survey. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; 2014.

  25. Diez Roux AV. Investigating neighborhood and area effects on health. Am J Public Health. 2001; 91(11): 1783–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Krieger N, Chen JT, Waterman PD, et al. Geocoding and monitoring of US socioeconomic inequalities in mortality and cancer incidence: does the choice of area-based measure and geographic level matter?: the public health disparities geocoding project. Am J Epidemiol. 2002; 156(5): 471–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Kessler RC, Andrews G, Colpe LJ, et al. Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychol Med. 2002; 32(6): 959–76.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Blau JR, Blau PM. The cost of inequality: metropolitan structure and violent crime. Am Sociol Rev. 1982; 47(1): 114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Gove WR, Huges M, Geerken M. Are uniform crime reports a valid indicator of the index crimes? an affirmative answer with minor qualifications. Criminology. 1985; 23(3): 451–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Location I. SecurityGauge commercial property crime risk index: white paper. 2013.

  31. Diez Roux AV, Kiefe CI, Jacobs DR, et al. Area characteristics and individual-level socioeconomic position indicators in three population-based epidemiologic studies. Ann Epidemiol. 2001; 11(6): 395–405.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Rosenbaum PR, Rubin DB. The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika. 1983; 70(1): 41–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Garrido MM, Kelley AS, Paris J, et al. Methods for constructing and assessing propensity scores. Health Serv Res. 2014; 49(5): 1–20.

  34. Dugoff EH, Schuler M, Stuart E. Generalizing observational study results: applying propensity score methods to complex surveys. Health Serv Res. 2014; 49(1): 284–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Heckman JJ, Ichimura H, Todd PE. Matching as an econometric evaluation estimator: evidence from evaluating a job training programme. Rev Econ Stud. 1997; 64(4): 605–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Wilson-Genderson M, Pruchno R. Effects of neighborhood violence and perceptions of neighborhood safety on depressive symptoms of older adults. Soc Sci Med. 2013; 85: 43–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Duncan GJ, Raudenbush SW. Assessing the effects of context in studies of child and youth development. Educ Psychol. 1999; 34(1): 29–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Duncan GJ, Connell JP, Klebanov PK. Conceptual and methodological issues in estimating causal effects of neighborhoods and family conditions on individual development. In: Brooks-Gunn J, Duncan GJ, Aber JL, eds. Neighborhood poverty: Vol. 1. Context and consequences for children. New York, NY: Russell Sage; 1997: 219–50.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Arseneault L, Bowes L, Shakoor S. Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems: “Much ado about nothing”? Psychol Med. 2010; 40: 717–29.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Fisher HL, Moffitt TE, Houts RM, et al. Bullying victimisation and risk of self harm in early adolescence: longitudinal cohort study. BMJ. 2012; 344: e2683.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Gaylord-Harden NK, Cunningham JA, Zelencik B. Effects of exposure to community violence on internalizing symptoms: does desensitization to violence occur in African American youth? J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2011; 39(5): 711–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Mccart MR, Smith DW, Saunders BE, et al. Do urban adolescents become desensitized to community violence? data from a national survey. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2007; 77(3): 434–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Gary TL, Stark SA, Laveist TA. Neighborhood characteristics and mental health among African Americans and whites living in a racially integrated urban community. Heal Place. 2007; 13(2): 569–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Mair C, Diez Roux AV, Galea S. Are neighborhood characteristics associated with depressive symptoms? a critical review. J Epidemiol Community Heal. 2008; 62(11): 940–6.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Morenoff JD. Neighborhood mechanisms and the spatial dynamics of birth weight. Am J Sociol. 2003; 108(5): 976–1017.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Earls FJ, Brooks-Gunn J, Raudenbush SW, Sampson RJ. Project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods: community survey, 1994–1995. Ann Arbor, MI: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan; 1997.

  47. Gupta RS, Zhang X, Springston EE, et al. The association between community crime and childhood asthma prevalence in Chicago. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010; 104(4): 299–306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Kennedy BP, Kawachi I, Prothrow-Stith D, et al. Social capital, income inequality, and firearm violent crime. Soc Sci Med. 1998; 47(1): 7–17.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Sampson RJ, Morenoff JD, Gannon-Rowley T. Assessing “neighborhood effects”: social processes and new directions in research. Annu Rev Sociol. 2002; 28(1): 443–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Coulton CJ, Korbin J, Chan T, Su M. Mapping residents’ perceptions of neighborhood boundaries: a methodological note. Am J Community Psychol. 2001; 29(2): 371–83.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health; School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts; University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Rd, Merced, CA, 95343, USA

    Sidra Goldman-Mellor & Kristina Allen

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Claire Margerison-Zilko

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine; School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Magdalena Cerda

Authors
  1. Sidra Goldman-Mellor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claire Margerison-Zilko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kristina Allen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Magdalena Cerda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sidra Goldman-Mellor.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 171 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Goldman-Mellor, S., Margerison-Zilko, C., Allen, K. et al. Perceived and Objectively-Measured Neighborhood Violence and Adolescent Psychological Distress. J Urban Health 93, 758–769 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0079-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0079-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation