Neighborhood protective effects on depression in Latinos.
Neighborhood social ecologies may have protective effects on depression in Latinos, after adjusting for demographic risk factors, such as nativity and length of stay in the US. This study examines the effects of neighborhood collective efficacy and linguistic isolation on depression in a heterogeneous urban Latino population from 1,468 adult respondents in Los Angeles County. We used multilevel models to analyze how major depression is associated with socioeconomic background, length of stay in the U.S., neighborhood collective efficacy and linguistic isolation among Latinos. A significant cross-level interaction effect was found between collective efficacy and foreign-born Latinos who resided in the US ≥ 15 years. We report cross-level interaction effects between linguistic isolation and nativity for U.S.-born and nativity and duration of residence for foreign-born Latinos who had lived in the U.S. at least 15 years. The moderating effects reported in this study suggest that the benefits of neighborhood collective efficacy and linguistic isolation vary by Latino subgroup and are conceptually discrete forms of social capital and offer insights for community based interventions.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, USA. williaav@usc.edu
William A
WA
Vega
Alfonso
A
Ang
Michael A
MA
Rodriguez
Brian K
BK
Finch
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012934:Social Isolation / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population