Effects Of Neighborhood Factors Research Articles

Neighborhood Broadband and Use of Telehealth Among Older Adults: Cross-sectional Study of National Survey Data Linked With Census Data.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the role of telehealth in health care delivery. Regional variation in internet access and telehealth use are well-documented, but the effect of neighborhood factors, including the pervasiveness of broadband internet, on older adults’ telehealth usage in the context of internet access is not known.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate how individual and neighborhood characteristics, including the pervasiveness of neighborhood broadband internet subscription, are associated with engagement in telehealth among older adults with internet access.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we included 5117 community-living older adults aged ≥65 years, who participated in the 2017 National Health and Aging Trends Study with census tract–level data for participants’ places of residence from the American Community Survey.ResultsOf an estimated 35.3 million community-living older adults, 21.1 million (59.7%) were internet users, and of this group, more than one-third (35.8%) engaged in telehealth. In a multivariable regression model adjusted for individual- and neighborhood-level factors, age, education, income, and the pervasiveness of neighborhood broadband internet subscription were associated with engagement in telehealth, while race, health, county metropolitan status, and neighborhood social deprivation were not. Among internet users, living in a neighborhood at the lowest (versus highest) tertile of broadband internet subscription was associated with being 40% less likely to engage in telehealth (adjusted odds ratio 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.87), all else equal.ConclusionsNeighborhood broadband internet stands out as a mutable characteristic that is consequential to engagement in telehealth.

The effects of neighborhood factors, maternal depression and parental emotional support on social – behavioral outcomes of children involved in the child welfare system

ABSTRACT Children involved in the child welfare system (CWS) are exposed to various negative neighborhood and family-level factors contributing to their poor developmental outcomes, including poor social-behavioral health. Considering the importance of social-behavioral functioning for children’s cognitive growth and academic success, it is important that the interplay of neighborhood and family-level factors and their effects on the social-behavioral outcomes of at-risk children are well understood. By utilizing the first two waves of nationally representative data from the National Survey of Child Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II), the study examines the potential direct and indirect effects of mothers’ perceived neighborhood factors on the social-behavioral outcomes of young children involved in the CWS. Hypothesized direct and indirect pathways operating through mediating mechanisms such as maternal mental health, parental responsiveness, and harsh discipline were tested by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggest that perceived neighborhood danger is significantly related to mothers’ depressive symptoms, increasing the likelihood of harsh and negative parenting being used by depressed mothers, ultimately resulting in negative social-behavioral outcomes of young children in the CWS.

Neighborhood Risk Factors for Recidivism: For Whom Do They Matter?

Justice-involved people vary substantially in their risk of re-offending. To date, recidivism prediction and prevention efforts have largely focused on individual-level factors like antisocial traits. Although a growing body of research has examined the role of residential contexts in predicting re-offending, results have been equivocal. One reason for mixed results may be that an individual’s susceptibility to contextual influence depends upon his or her accumulated risk of re-offending. Based on a sample of 2,218 people on probation in San Francisco, California, this study draws on observational and secondary data to test the hypothesis that individual risk moderates the effect of neighborhood factors on recidivism. Results from survival analyses indicate that individual risk interacts with neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and disorder — these factors increase recidivism among people relatively low in individual risk, but not those at higher risk. This is consistent with the disadvantage saturation perspective, raising the possibility that some people classified as low risk might not recidivate but for placement in disadvantaged and disorderly neighborhoods. Ultimately, residential contexts “matter” for lower risk people and may be useful to consider in efforts to prevent recidivism.

Strategic Mortgage Default: The Effect of Neighborhood Factors

This article studies strategic default—the willingness of a borrower to walk away from a mortgage when the value of the home falls below the unpaid principal balance despite an ability to pay. This study differs from the literature in two fundamental ways. First, we use unique data assets describing the household's equity position and capacity to carry the debt in addition to credit performance to identify strategic defaulters accurately. Second, we address externalities from local foreclosures and other strategic defaults and find that the incidence of strategic default is sensitive to the presence of other nearby strategic defaulters. These results have significant implications for foreclosure and loss mitigation policies employed by servicers and investors.

Elucidating the changing socio-spatial dynamics of neighborhood effects on adult obesity risk in Taiwan from 2001 to 2005

Obesity poses a significant health threat in industrialized countries, with its incidence increasing steadily in Taiwan. This study addresses how neighborhood contexts influence individuals, using a multilevel spatial analysis of obesity risk from 2001 to 2005. A priority concern was whether contextual influences on health are limited to the immediate neighborhood or extend to a wider geographical area. The results led to the following conclusions. First, neighborhood factors related to obesity risk are likely to operate over a broad geographical area and are not limited to the focal neighborhood of residence. Second, a geographically based epidemiological change in the likelihood of obesity risk was observed from 2001 to 2005 in Taiwan. Third, the spatial lag model revealed significant spatial spillover of obesity risk in the study area in 2005. Policy interventions are recommended for the neighborhoods associated with the strong spillover effect. The results demonstrate that, in addition to enhancing the accuracy of prediction regarding the effects of neighborhood factors on obesity, incorporating spatial dynamics at the neighborhood level can encourage the development of contextually sensitive policy interventions.