Neighborhood quality and somatic complaints among American youth.
OBJECTIVE
This study examines the relationship between the social context of neighborhood and somatic complaints in a national probability sample of adolescents.


METHODS
Structural equation modeling is used to estimate paths of influence between neighborhood quality and somatic complaints. An analysis of variance highlights the relationship between demographic characteristics and neighborhood quality.


RESULTS
Neighborhood quality appears to play an indirect role in producing somatic complaints in adolescents. Linkages between correlates of somatic complaints, such as stressful life events, family environment, psychological distress, and measures of neighborhood quality are discussed.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings emphasize the need to conceptualize adolescent somatization as contextually dependent and to use an ecological perspective when intervening with somaticizing teens.
Chapman
Mimi V
MV
School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550, USA. mimi@email.unc.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D004777:Environment; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological