Neighborhood Social Ties Research Articles

Sensory Health Among Older Adults in the United States: A Neighborhood Context Approach.

Sensory health declines with age but remains critical to the navigation and enjoyment of everyday life. Neighborhoods are key sites of environmental exposure, social engagement, and access to resources that can shape sensory health, yet the residential neighborhood is understudied as a determinant of sensory function. We use data from Rounds 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to examine how subjective and objective measures of older adults' residential areas are associated with sensory health in a series of cross-sectional and multilevel regression models. In cross-sectional models, higher levels of perceived neighborhood social ties are associated with significantly better self-rated vision. Older adults who reside in more densely populated tracts are more likely to have significantly worse olfactory identification, whereas residing in tracts with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage is associated with significantly lower levels of self-rated vision. In multilevel models, residing in more densely populated tracts is associated with significantly worse olfactory identification, whereas tract-level concentrated disadvantage is associated with significantly worse hearing and vision. We propose that neighborhood characteristics could influence certain environmental exposures, the amount of time that older adults spend out of the home, patterns of social engagement, and access to preventative care that collectively affect sensory health. Residential neighborhoods may be important sites of potential intervention to slow age-related sensory declines and other related conditions.

NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTERISTICS AND INEQUALITIES IN SENSORY HEALTH AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract Sensory function plays a crucial role in older adults’ navigation of the environment, maintenance of personal safety, and in quality of everyday life. The residential neighborhood context is a significant social determinant of later life health and health disparities, but it has been understudied with respect to sensory function. We consider that residential neighborhoods are key sites of social and economic resources, social engagement, and environmental stimulation that could influence sensory health and inequalities in sensory impairment. We use data from 2,251 older adults who were interviewed at Rounds 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project in a series of longitudinal random effects models that examine how self-reported and objectively measured neighborhood characteristics are associated with self-rated vision and hearing. We find that older adults who reside in census tracts with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage report significantly worse self-rated vision and hearing compared with older adults who live in areas with less concentrated disadvantage. Residing in a more densely populated tract, however, is associated with better self-rated hearing. Black and Hispanic older adults’ self-rated hearing benefits significantly more from living in a densely populated tract than does White older adults’ self-rated hearing. In cross-sectional models, higher perceptions of neighborhood safety and social ties are associated with better self-rated vision. Our findings prompt a more nuanced understanding of how the social environment affects sensory health and highlight sensory function as a potential underexplored pathway through which neighborhood characteristics shape health disparities in later life.

Residential mobility and adolescents’ physical activity: The mediating role of neighborhood social ties

ABSTRACT Neighborhoods represent an important ecological system for adolescents’ physical activity. However, the current literature has generally overlooked the fact that families and adolescents may experience frequent residential moves and need to adapt to their new neighborhoods. Despite the high residential mobility (i.e. the frequency of residential moves) in the United States, there is a dearth of research on how residential mobility may affect American adolescents’ physical activity. Using Year 15 (wave#6) data from Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), this study examined the relationship between residential mobility and adolescents’ physical activity and investigated family’s neighborhood social ties as a potential mediator for the relationship, while controlling for socio-demographics related to adolescents, their primary caregivers, and households. Results of structural equation modeling showed that residential mobility was negatively associated with neighborhood social ties, which in turn, was positively associated with adolescent’s physical activity. The negative association between residential mobility and adolescent’s physical activity was fully mediated by neighborhood social ties. Finally, implications of this study are discussed.

Housing typologies, neighborhood perceptions, and neighborhood social ties. an examination of the Michaihue neighborhood, Metropolitan Area of Concepción, Chile

Using a case study conducted in the Michaihue neighborhood, the result of progressive large-scale and high-rise social housing, the possible impact that architectural typology can have on the declared perception of neighborhood preference and predilection is analyzed, understanding these elements as a positive basis to generate neighborhood social ties. Methodologically, the responses to the dwellings and households’ CENSUS were analyzed and compared, alongside a review of personal networks applied to neighbors who own both housing typologies. The findings show that, given the same urban context and individual attributes, the housing typology marks a difference when expressing a preference for living in their neighborhood and whether or not they would choose to stay in it. However, the evidence does not allow stating whether this would affect the dynamics of neighborhood social ties production. Finally, a "progressive" architectural typology is presented, that allows the owner to participate in its modification-extension, providing better conditions for a positive perception of the neighborhood, which in itself does not necessarily alter the dynamics behind the creation and outline of neighborhood social networks.

Neighborhood Social Ties and Informal Social Control: When do Neighbors Call the Police or Directly Intervene?

Neighborhood Social Ties and Informal Social Control: When do Neighbors Call the Police or Directly Intervene?

Neighborhood Social Ties and Informal Social Control: When do Neighbors Call the Police or Directly Intervene?

Social disorganization theory posits that neighborhood social ties facilitate residents’ engagement in distinct forms of informal social control important for crime reduction, including private, parochial, and public controls (Bursik & Grasmik, 1993). Yet research examining how social ties contribute to various forms of informal social control is rare, despite a recent resurgence in efforts to clarify these measures (see Warner, 2014). The present study examines whether neighborhood social ties influence direct informal social control (i.e., residents’ perceptions that their neighbors will stop a crime themselves or will get another neighbor to help) and indirect informal social control (i.e., residents’ perceptions that their neighbors will call the police) within ordinary least squares regression. Findings indicate that previous studies, which have relied on global measures of informal social control, have concealed more nuanced relationships regarding social ties and forms of informal social control. More specifically, neighborhood social ties were positively related to direct informal social control at low levels of disadvantage, but were negatively related to direct informal social control in neighborhoods with high concentrated disadvantage, while social ties were positively related to indirect informal social control regardless of disadvantaged context. Findings point to the importance of including more specific measures of informal social control in current and future residential surveys.

Deadly gun violence, neighborhood collective efficacy, and adolescent neurobehavioral outcomes.

Gun violence is a major public health problem and costs the United States $280 billion annually (1). Although adolescents are disproportionately impacted (e.g. premature death), we know little about how close adolescents live to deadly gun violence incidents and whether such proximity impacts their socioemotional development (2, 3). Moreover, gun violence is likely to shape youth developmental outcomes through biological processes-including functional connectivity within regions of the brain that support emotion processing, salience detection, and physiological stress responses-though little work has examined this hypothesis. Lastly, it is unclear if strong neighborhood social ties can buffer youth from the neurobehavioral effects of gun violence. Within a nationwide birth cohort of 3,444 youth (56% Black, 24% Hispanic) born in large US cities, every additional deadly gun violence incident that occurred within 500 meters of home in the prior year was associated with an increase in behavioral problems by 9.6%, even after accounting for area-level crime and socioeconomic resources. Incidents that occurred closer to a child's home exerted larger effects, and stronger neighborhood social ties offset these associations. In a neuroimaging subsample (N= 164) of the larger cohort, living near more incidents of gun violence and reporting weaker neighborhood social ties were associated with weaker amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity during socioemotional processing, a pattern previously linked to less effective emotion regulation. Results provide spatially sensitive evidence for gun violence effects on adolescent behavior, a potential mechanism through which risk is biologically embedded, and ways in which positive community factors offset ecological risk.

Neighborhood Walking and Social Connectedness.

Neighborhood social ties matter crucially, especially during stressful life events like a global pandemic, for they represent vital sources of wellbeing and community capacity. Activities that enable community members to engage in incidental sociability and acts of “neighboring”—that is, authentic social interactions with their neighbors—warrant attention from sport and active living researchers because of their potential to bolster the social fabric of our neighborhoods and facilitate neighbors' access to important resources, such as information, material resources, and social support. Though perhaps dismissed as trivial, neighborhood walking represents a valuable and underappreciated everyday activity that fits this description, especially in an age characterized by an epidemic of social isolation and loneliness. Despite its vast potential to address the quasi-anonymity of urban life, neighborhood walking remains surprisingly underexamined as a facilitator for fostering social connectedness, the sense of connection and social bond people feel toward others. The goal of this manuscript, therefore, is to establish the conceptual grounding for how neighborhood walking strengthens social ties among neighbors to facilitate access to important coping resources. In doing so, it aims to advance a research agenda on walking that moves beyond the benefits of physical activity.

The association between relationship strain and emotional well-being among older adult couples: the moderating role of social connectedness

Objectives The present study examines the moderating role of social connectedness (i.e. closeness, talk frequency, social network size, and neighborhood social ties) in the association between one’s own and spouse’s relationship strain and emotional well-being (i.e. depressive symptoms, happiness, and loneliness). Method Married couples (N = 865) were drawn from the second wave of the National Social, Health, and Aging Project. One Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) and one Actor Partner Interdependence Model with Moderation (APIMoM) were conducted. Results In terms of actor effects, relationship strain was associated with all emotional well-being outcomes. Wives’ and husbands’ greater relationship strain was associated with spouses’ loneliness. Only wives’ greater relationship strain was associated with her husbands’ higher level of depressive symptoms and no partner effects were found for happiness. In six instances, social connectedness factors helped to ameliorate the association between self/spouse relationship strain, depressive symptoms, and happiness. However, wives’ greater neighborhood social ties amplified the association between wives greater relationship strain and husbands’ greater depressive symptoms. We did not find that social connectedness factors moderated the associations between self/spouse relationship strain and loneliness. Conclusion Even in late life marriages, marital strain is associated with less happiness and greater depressive symptoms and loneliness. Practitioners addressing emotional well-being may need to pay attention to spousal perceptions of relationship strain and social relationships external to the marital relationship when working with heterosexual couples. Efforts throughout the life course should be made to ensure connections with diverse types of social networks. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1910786.

The effects of neighborhood social ties and networks on mental health and well-being: A qualitative case study of women residents in a middle-class Korean urban neighborhood.

Despite the general understanding of the significance of neighborhood social capital on mental health, our understanding of the mechanisms of these effects is limited. This study thus explores the characteristics of neighborhood social ties and networks experienced by women residents in their urban neighborhood in the Seoul metropolitan area, Korea, and how these social relationships contributed to their mental health and well-being. We draw on a phenomenological qualitative study conducted in 2016, which included interviews with 18 full-time or part-time housewives with children. The participants in this study experienced the neighborhood social networks and ties as unessential but supportive relationships, as an extension of mothering, and as a source of stressful social comparisons. With these characteristics, the social relationships had both positive and negative effects on the participants' mental health and well-being because they provided social support but also generated everyday stress. This study illustrates an example of the complex link between neighborhood social capital and mental health. It also contributes to our understanding of the everyday processes that influence the health and well-being of women, highlighting the possible oppressive attributes of neighborhood communities.

Neighborhood Disorder, Social Ties, and Preventive Healthcare Utilization among Urban-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objectives: This research examines whether perceived neighborhood disorder influences the use of preventive healthcare services (i.e. influenza vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, cholesterol screening, colonoscopy, and dental care) by older adults and whether social ties buffer the potential adverse effects of perceived neighborhood disorder. Methods: Using data from the 2012 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, binary logistic regression was used to generate odds ratio estimates of preventive healthcare use in the past 2years. Results: We find that greater levels of neighborhood disorder were associated with fewer dental care visits net of social and health factors. Regular participation in four or more social activities was associated with decreased odds of restricted use and increased odds of receiving a pneumonia vaccine and colonoscopy. Discussion: This research provides evidence that perceived neighborhood disorder may act as a barrier for specific preventive healthcare services and highlights the need for targeted intervention.

The Effects of Neighborhood Social Ties in Public Rental Housing on Moving Intention: Focusing on the Mediation Effect of Residential Satisfaction

The Effects of Neighborhood Social Ties in Public Rental Housing on Moving Intention: Focusing on the Mediation Effect of Residential Satisfaction

Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Serious Psychological Distress Among Brazilian Immigrants in Boston.

Recent migrants to the United States face various stressors, including adjustment to new community norms and practices. To ease this transition, migrant groups have traditionally formed enclaves where they might live in close proximity and access institutions designed to serve their cultural interests. For newer migrant groups, such as Brazilians residing in New England, neighborhood social cohesion may therefore be particularly important for buffering against serious psychological distress. We use representative data from the 2007 Boston Metropolitan Immigrant Health and Legal Status Survey to estimate the association of serious psychological distress with neighborhood-level social cohesion among foreign-born Brazilian adults. We find that serious psychological distress is inversely related to neighborhood social cohesion (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46, 0.94). Annual earnings were also negatively associated with distress (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.93, 0.99). Our findings suggest that neighborhood social ties may buffer against serious psychological distress for Brazilian migrants in New England.

Crime Victimization, Place Attachment, and the Moderating Role of Neighborhood Social Ties and Neighboring Behavior

Place attachment is the development of a psychological and emotional bond between an individual and their environmental setting. While positive experiences in the residential neighborhood are central to ongoing develop-ment of people–place bonds, whether negative experiences erode place attachment remains unknown. In this study, we explore the relationship between crime victimization, social ties, neighboring behaviors, and place attachment in Brisbane, Australia. Using multilevel linear modeling, we examine whether negative experiences, specifically crime victimization, in the residential neighborhood affect residents’ attachment to place. We also explore whether this relationship is moderated by neighborhood social ties and/or interactions with neighbors. Results indicate that the negative impact of victimization in the residential neighborhood on place attachment is attenuated through frequent social and/or functional interactions with neighbors.

Neighborhoods and Intimate Partner Violence Against Women: The Direct and Interactive Effects of Social Ties and Collective Efficacy.

This study examines the impact of several indicators of neighborhood social ties (e.g., residents' interactions with each other; residents' ability to recognize outsiders) on intimate partner violence (IPV) against women as well as whether neighborhood collective efficacy's impact on IPV is contingent upon such ties. This study used data from 4,151 women (46% Latina, 33% African American, 17% Caucasian, on average 32 years old) in 80 neighborhoods from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. We estimated a series of random effects hierarchical Bernoulli models to assess the main and interactive effects of neighborhood social ties and collective efficacy on minor and severe forms of IPV against women. Results indicate that certain neighborhood social ties are associated with higher rates of minor forms of IPV against women (but not severe forms of IPV), and collective efficacy does not appear to influence IPV against women, regardless of the level of individual or neighborhood social ties. Unlike street crime, collective efficacy does not significantly reduce IPV against women, even in neighborhoods with strong social ties that may facilitate awareness of the violence. In fact, perpetrators of minor IPV may enjoy some protective benefit in communities with social ties that make neighbors hesitant to intervene in what some might perceive as "private matters."

Neighborhood Differences in Post-Stroke Mortality.

Post-stroke mortality is higher among residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods, but it is not known whether neighborhood inequalities are specific to stroke survival or similar to mortality patterns in the general population. We hypothesized that neighborhood disadvantage would predict higher poststroke mortality, and neighborhood effects would be relatively larger for stroke patients than for individuals with no history of stroke. Health and Retirement Study participants aged ≥50 years without stroke at baseline (n=15 560) were followed ≤12 years for incident stroke (1715 events over 159 286 person-years) and mortality (5325 deaths). Baseline neighborhood characteristics included objective measures based on census tracts (family income, poverty, deprivation, residential stability, and percent white, black, or foreign-born) and self-reported neighborhood social ties. Using Cox proportional hazard models, we compared neighborhood mortality effects for people with versus people without a history of stroke. Most neighborhood variables predicted mortality for both stroke patients and the general population in demographic-adjusted models. Neighborhood percent white predicted lower mortality for stroke survivors (hazard ratio, 0.75 for neighborhoods in highest 25th percentile versus below, 95% confidence interval, 0.62-0.91) more strongly than for stroke-free adults (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.02; P=0.04 for stroke-by-neighborhood interaction). No other neighborhood characteristic had different effects for people with versus without stroke. Neighborhood-mortality associations emerged within 3 months after stroke, when associations were often stronger than among stroke-free individuals. Neighborhood characteristics predict mortality, but most effects are similar for individuals without stroke. Eliminating disparities in stroke survival may require addressing pathways that are not specific to traditional poststroke care.

Neighborhood Social Ties and Shared Expectations for Informal Social Control: Do They Influence Informal Social Control Actions?

Social disorganization states that neighborhood social ties and shared expectations for informal social control are necessary for the exercise of informal social control actions. Yet this association is largely assumed rather than empirically examined in the literature. This paper examines the relationship between neighborhood social ties, shared expectations for informal social control and actual parochial and public informal social control actions taken by residents in response to big neighborhood problems. Using multi-level logistic regression models, we integrate Australian Bureau of Statistics census data with the Australian Community Capacity Study survey data of 1310 residents reporting 2614 significant neighborhood problems across 148 neighborhoods to examine specific informal social control actions taken by residents when faced with neighborhood problems. We do not find a relationship between shared expectations for informal social control and residents’ informal social control actions. Individual social ties, however, do lead to an increase in informal social control actions in response to ‘big’ neighborhood problems. Residents with strong ties are more likely to engage in public and parochial informal social control actions than those individuals who lack social ties. Yet individuals living in neighborhoods with high levels of social ties are only moderately more likely to engage in parochial informal social control action than those living in areas where these ties are not present. Shared expectations for informal social control are not associated with the likelihood that residents engage in informal social control actions when faced with a significant neighborhood problem. Neighborhood social ties and shared expectations for informal social control are not unilaterally necessary for the exercise of informal social control actions. Our results challenge contemporary articulations of social disorganization theory that assume that the availability of neighborhood social ties or expectations for action are associated with residents actually doing something to exercise of informal social control.

The effect of neighborhood disadvantage, social ties, and genetic variation on the antisocial behavior of African American women: A multilevel analysis

Social disorganization theory posits that individuals who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior than are those who live in advantaged neighborhoods and that neighborhood disadvantage asserts this effect through its disruptive impact on social ties. Past research on this framework has been limited in two respects. First, most studies have concentrated on adolescent males. In contrast, the present study focused on a sample of adult African American females. Second, past research has largely ignored individual-level factors that might explain why people who grow up in disadvantaged neighborhoods often do not engage in antisocial behavior. We investigated the extent to which genetic variation contributes to heterogeneity of response to neighborhood conditions. We found that the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on antisocial behavior was mediated by neighborhood social ties. Further, the analysis indicated that the effects of neighborhood disadvantage and social ties on antisocial behavior were moderated by genetic polymorphisms. Examination of these moderating effects provided support for the differential susceptibility model of Gene × Environment. The effect of Gene × Neighborhood Disadvantage on antisocial behavior was mediated by the effect of Gene × Neighborhood Social Ties, providing support for an expanded view of social disorganization theory.

Social capital across urban neighborhoods: A comparison of self-report and observational data.

Previous self-report survey research has demonstrated significant variation in social trust and neighborhood social ties between two neighborhoods of contrasting socioeconomic fortunes within the same English city. Residents in a deprived neighborhood reported that they trusted their neighbors less and had fewer social ties within the neighborhood than residents in an affluent neighborhood. We carried out direct behavioral observations in these neighborhoods to determine whether this difference was apparent in behavior on the streets. We found that people were less likely to be alone and adults were more likely to engage in social interactions with other adults in the deprived neighborhood than in the affluent neighborhood, indicating a more active social life. We argue that self-reports about social interactions are not simple objective descriptions of those interactions, but involve adding interpretation and meaning to them. We highlight the importance of observational data for exploring cultural differences within and between societies.

How do neighborhoods affect depression outcomes? A realist review and a call for the examination of causal pathways

This realist review seeks to elucidate the modifiable causal pathways through which neighborhoods affect depressive symptoms in adult populations. Studies were identified using Medline, PubMed, PsycInfo, Geobase, and Web of Science databases, and chosen using reproducible selection criteria and systematic critical appraisal. A total of 14 longitudinal studies, published between 2003 and 2011, were included. Eleven of the articles observed a significant relationship between depression and at least one of the following neighborhood-level variables: neighborhood deprivation, disorder, instability, and social ties. Proposed modifiable pathways linking neighborhood characteristics and depression include: (1) the level of neighborhood-based stress that is placed on individuals, (2) the formation and strength of protective and supportive social networks, (3) the level of resiliency to negative affectivity and stress, (4) the perceptions of the esthetic and form of residential space, and (5) the sense of control and agency in place of residence. These pathways represent potential areas for future research and intervention. Further research requires a more systematic use of longitudinal design and a diversity of physical and social environmental measures. Interventions aimed at improving affective resiliency need to be tested.