title: Perceived neighborhood disorder, community cohesion, and PTSD symptoms among low-income African Americans in an urban health setting.
abstract: Studies have established a link between contextual factors, such as neighborhood and community environments, and psychopathology. Although these factors have been shown to affect the expression of symptoms of depression and other disorders, little evidence exists of a link between contextual factors and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study tested the relationships among perceived neighborhood disorder (a measure of self-reported perceptions of the physical environment), community cohesion (a measure of perceived social ties), and self-reported PTSD symptoms while controlling for previous trauma exposure in a low-income, urban, African American population. Regression analyses indicated that both neighborhood disorder and community cohesion are related to PTSD symptoms after controlling for trauma exposure. Community cohesion, however, was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between neighborhood disorder and PTSD symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Emory University.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gapen
authors.affiliation: Emory University.
authors.forename: Dorthie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cross
authors.affiliation: Emory University.
authors.forename: Kile
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ortigo
authors.affiliation: Emory University.
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Emory University.
authors.forename: Eboni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Emory University.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5858-4454
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evces
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
authors.forename: Kerry J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5158-1103
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ressler
authors.affiliation: Atlanta VA Medical Center.
authors.forename: Bekh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bradley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D012940:Social Problems; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014504:Urban Health