Does disorder get “into the head” and “under the skin”? Layered contexts and bi-directional associations

Abstract

This paper utilizes a layered context approach to examine how neighborhood and household conditions are associated with the objective and subjective well-being of older adults. Using two waves of data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (n=2261), we assess subjective mental health through self-reported measures of perceived stress and distress and objective physical health through C-reactive protein (CRP). Environmental disorder was measured by independent, trained interviewers. Cross-sectional results indicate that household disorder is positively associated with perceived stress and distress, overwhelming the association between neighborhood disorder and mental health outcomes. Yet longitudinal findings point to a reverse process, whereby highly stressed women experience deterioration in their home environment across the two waves. Few significant findings surfaced for CRP. Taken together, our findings illustrate the complex interplay between health and proximal environments and underscore how feedback cycles operate between “health” and “place” across multiple outcomes.