Journal article
Are neighbourhood characteristics associated with depressive symptoms? A review of evidence
Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979), v 62(11), pp 940-U21
01 Nov 2008
PMID: 18775943
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
A review of published observational studies of neighbourhoods and depression/depressive symptoms was conducted to inform future directions for the field. Forty-five English-language cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that analysed the effect of at least one neighbourhood-level variable on either depression or depressive symptoms were analysed. Of the 45 studies, 37 reported associations of at least one neighbourhood characteristic with depression/depressive symptoms. Seven of the 10 longitudinal studies reported associations of at least one neighbourhood characteristic with incident depression. Socioeconomic composition was the most common neighbourhood characteristic investigated. The associations of depressive symptoms/depression with structural features (socioeconomic and racial composition, stability and built environment) were less consistent than with social processes (disorder, social interactions, violence). Among the structural features, measures of the built environment were the most consistently associated with depression but the number of studies was small. The extent to which these associations reflect causal processes remains to be determined. The large variability in studies across neighbourhood definitions and measures, adjustment variables and study populations makes it difficult to draw more than a few general qualitative conclusions. Improving the quality of observational work through improved measurement of neighbourhood attributes, more sophisticated consideration of spatial scale, longitudinal designs and evaluation of natural experiments will strengthen inferences regarding causal effects of area attributes on depression.
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Details
- Title
- Are neighbourhood characteristics associated with depressive symptoms? A review of evidence
- Creators
- C. Mair - University of MichiganA. V. Diez Roux - Drexel University, Epidemiology and BiostatisticsS. Galea - Boston University
- Publication Details
- Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979), v 62(11), pp 940-U21
- Publisher
- BMJ Publishing Group
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- R01HL071759 / NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) R24HD047861 / EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH &HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000260017100002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-54349098047
- Other Identifier
- 991020112304804721
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- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health