Neighborhood safety, community perceptions, and satisfaction with community resources among Latinas from a U.S.-Mexico border community

Neighborhood perceptions are critical in determining whether people use community resources, like parks or recreation centers, for engaging in physical activity [PA]. Studies have shown that women who perceived their neighborhoods as safe from crime or as having places to exercise were more likely to engage in PA than those who had opposite opinions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact that neighborhood safety has on Latina's perception of community resources and how this affects their use of parks and levels of PA. This study represents a convenience sample of 107 Latinas, recruited to date, in a U.S.-Mexico border community of San Diego, California. The mean age of the participants is 43 years and 83% were born in Mexico. Participants were recruited at health fairs and through print, television, and radio advertisements. Measurements were obtained from a self-administered survey of 38 questions regarding neighborhood safety (á=.62), community perceptions (á=.69), and satisfaction with community resources (á=.59). The results of the study show a correlation between neighborhood safety, satisfaction with community resources, and perceptions of a supportive environment. Women who perceived their neighborhoods as safer were more satisfied with community resources (p<.01) and perceived their environments as more supportive of PA (p<.01). However, neighborhood safety was not related to frequency of park use in a typical month or with the number of different parks used for PA in the same month. Findings of the study suggest that perceptions of safety are related to environmental quality indicators but not behavior.