Abstract
BackgroundVarious forms of community disorder are associated with health outcomes but little is known about how dynamic context where an adolescent spends time relates to her health-related behaviors.ObjectiveAssess whether exposure to contexts associated with crime (as a marker of community disorder) correlates with self-reported health-related behaviors among adolescent girls.MethodsGirls (N = 52), aged 14–17, were recruited from a single geographic urban area and monitored for 1 week using a GPS-enabled cell phone. Adolescents completed an audio computer-assisted self-administered interview survey on substance use (cigarette, alcohol, or marijuana use) and sexual intercourse in the last 30 days. In addition to recorded home and school address, phones transmitted location data every 5 minutes (path points). Using ArcGIS, we defined community disorder as aggregated point-level Unified Crime Report data within a 200-meter Euclidian buffer from home, school and each path point. Using Stata, we analyzed how exposures to areas of higher crime prevalence differed among girls who reported each behavior or not.ResultsParticipants lived and spent time in areas with variable crime prevalence within 200 meters of their home, school and path points. Significant differences in exposure occurred based on home location among girls who reported any substance use or not (p 0.04) and sexual intercourse or not (p 0.01). Differences in exposure by school and path points were only significant among girls reporting any substance use or not (p 0.03 and 0.02, respectively). Exposure also varied by school/non-school day as well as time of day.ConclusionsAdolescent travel patterns are not random. Furthermore, the crime context where an adolescent spends time relates to her health-related behavior. These data may guide policy relating to crime control and inform time- and space-specific interventions to improve adolescent health.
Highlights
Though the physical and emotional resources within homes clearly influence adolescent health and well-being, the surrounding physical area and its social milieu, loosely understood as the residential neighborhood, plays a role
The crime context where an adolescent spends time relates to her health-related behavior. These data may guide policy relating to crime control and inform time- and spacespecific interventions to improve adolescent health
Previous studies of context primarily use arbitrary administrative areas or buffers surrounding participants’ residential addresses to assess neighborhood contextual exposure. These areal units often do not fully or accurately characterize where adolescents spend time and interact with others at the micro-geographic level. They cannot differentiate contextual influences that adolescents experienced at various distances from home
Summary
Though the physical and emotional resources within homes clearly influence adolescent health and well-being, the surrounding physical area and its social milieu, loosely understood as the residential neighborhood, plays a role. Past research tends to identify a general correlation between the qualities of neighborhoods where adolescents live and their health, how specific sociogeographic contexts outside their homes influence this relationship remains unclear [5]. Previous studies of context primarily use arbitrary administrative areas (e.g., census tracts or block groups) or buffers surrounding participants’ residential addresses to assess neighborhood contextual exposure. These areal units often do not fully or accurately characterize where adolescents spend time and interact with others at the micro-geographic level (e.g., spending time on the front stoop, street corners, vacant lots, or other places without adult supervision). Various forms of community disorder are associated with health outcomes but little is known about how dynamic context where an adolescent spends time relates to her health-related behaviors
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
