title: Is neighborhood racial/ethnic composition associated with depressive symptoms? The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.
abstract: The racial/ethnic composition of a neighborhood may be related to residents' depressive symptoms through differential levels of neighborhood social support and/or stressors. We used the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis to investigate cross-sectional associations of neighborhood racial/ethnic composition with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale in adults aged 45-84. The key exposure was a census-derived measure of the percentage of residents of the same racial/ethnic background in each participant's census tract. Two-level multilevel models were used to estimate associations of neighborhood racial/ethnic composition with CES-D scores after controlling for age, income, marital status, education and nativity. We found that living in a neighborhood with a higher percentage of residents of the same race/ethnicity was associated with increased CES-D scores in African American men (p < 0.05), and decreased CES-D scores in Hispanic men and women and Chinese women, although these differences were not statistically significant. Models were further adjusted for neighborhood-level covariates (social cohesion, safety, problems, aesthetic quality and socioeconomic factors) derived from survey responses and census data. Adjusting for other neighborhood characteristics strengthened protective associations amongst Hispanics, but did not change the significant associations in African American men. These results demonstrate heterogeneity in the associations of race/ethnic composition with mental health and the need for further exploration of which aspects of neighborhood environments may contribute to these associations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Room 3655, 109 S Observatory, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, United States; Prevention Research Center, 1995 University Ave., Suite 450, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA. Electronic address: cmair@prev.org.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mair
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Room 3655, 109 S Observatory, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, United States; Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, MI, United States.
authors.forename: Ana V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Diez Roux
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Theresa L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Osypuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine & Division of Public Health Sciences Wake Forest University School of Medicine, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Rapp
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine & Epidemiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seeman
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Karol E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019352:Censuses; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States