Abstract
Since the growth of research into neighbourhood effects on young people's health in the 1980s, there have been major societal changes and scientific methodological advancements. In this systematic review we will, therefore, discuss the recent (>2009) literature on the association between neighbourhood deprivation and young people's (0-19 years old) mental health and well-being. We focus on whether neighbourhood deprivation effects exist, and how and for whom the neighbourhood matters. Together, the thirty studies included in the review indicate that overall there are neighbourhood effects on young people's mental health and well-being. The comparison of results from these studies suggests that such associations were more commonly found for well-being and externalising problem behaviour rather than internalising problem behaviour. Also, mental health and well-being seemed to be more often associated with the neighbourhood social environment than neighbourhood socio-economic status and neighbourhood disorder. Studies investigating mediating processes between the linkage between neighbourhood deprivation and mental health and well-being were rare although there was some evidence that processes within the family and peer context are important mechanisms in this linkage. Inconsistent evidence was found regarding the moderating role of age, gender, and ethnicity. There are ongoing challenges of researching the how and for whom neighbourhoods are important. We should work towards rigorous theory and evidence on how different features of residential contexts matter and on differential exposure and vulnerability to these contexts.
Highlights
Since the growth of research into neighbourhood effects on young people’s health in the 1980s, there have been major societal changes and scientific methodological advancements
All studies controlled for individual variables, such as age, gender and race/ethnic background, and family-level variables such as family socio-economic status in their models, in order to reduce the confounding of neighbourhood effects by individual or family effects
In recent years, increased attention has been paid to the impact of neighbourhood on young people’s mental health and well-being, illustrated by the fact that we were able to include thirty studies on this topic that appeared in peerreviewed scientific journals during the last decade
Summary
Since the growth of research into neighbourhood effects on young people’s health in the 1980s, there have been major societal changes and scientific methodological advancements. Significant changes in the field of neighbourhood studies have made it important to review the more recent literature on this topic Several methodological advancements, such as more sophis ticated multilevel analyses, have allowed researchers to measure neighbourhood effects more adequately. Putnam (2016) has shown that the percentage of families in both highand low-income neighbourhoods has been increasing, while middle in come neighbourhoods have been disappearing These greater contrasts between neighbourhoods might result into more sizeable mental health and wellbeing differences between young people living in different neighbourhoods. In addi tion, we focus on young people because this group spends more time in the neighbourhood and maintains a larger proportion of their social contacts there compared to adults, potentially increasing the effect of neighbourhood deprivation on mental health and wellbeing (James and Prout, 1990; Matthews and Limb 1999)
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