330783
Relation between neighborhood socio-economic characteristics and social cohesion, social control, and collective efficacy: Findings from the Boston Neighborhood Study
Methods: We used data collected from the Boston Neighborhood Survey, a population-based, cross-sectional survey conducted in 38 Boston neighborhoods in 2010 (n=1,710). Socio-economic characteristics of each neighborhood included economic deprivation, dangerousness (i.e. crime rates), neighborhood disorder, social fragmentation, and proportion of the neighborhood that is African-American. The three outcome variables: social cohesion, social control, and collective efficacy, were dichotomized at the 75th percentile. We used multi-level logistic regression analyses to identify the relationship between the neighborhood characteristics and social cohesion, social control, and collective efficacy, while adjusting for sex, age, race, income, education, and nativity.
Results: High social fragmentation (OR=0.62, 95% CI=0.46, 0.85) and high proportion African American (OR=0.74, 95%=0.57,0.96) were associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting high social cohesion. High economic deprivation (OR=0.54,0.33,0.87) was associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting social control. Moderate (OR=0.76, 95%=0.61,0.97) and high economic deprivation (OR=0.59, 95% CI=0.38, 0.91), were associated with a decreased likelihood of reporting high collective efficacy.
Conclusion: Neighborhood socio-economic characteristics are associated with social cohesion, social control and collective efficacy, above and beyond individual-level characteristics. Causal work should be undertaken to better understand the direction of effect in these associations.
Learning Areas:
EpidemiologyPublic health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Describe the association between neighborhood socio-economic characteristics and self-reported social cohesion, social control, and collective efficacy.
Formulate measures of neighborhood socio-economic characteristics using census indictors.
Differentiate the outcomes social cohesion, social control, and collective efficacy
• Identify the variance explained by the neighborhood socio-economic characteristics of each outcome
Keyword(s): Environmental Health, Epidemiology
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been a primary author or co-author on several peer-reviewed articles focusing on the relation between social determinants at the state and neighborhood level and health outcomes such as depression, physical activity, dietary intake, smoking, and mortality.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.