title: Objective and perceived community factors: exploring responses to context.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the neighborhood context, researchers typically use (objective) archival measures and (subjective) self-reported data of neighborhood conditions. The current study compared these measures and explored whether internalizing symptoms influences how individuals perceive their neighborhoods.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was 112 African American young adults living in 27 neighborhoods. Objective indicators of neighborhoods were assessed via census data and compared to self-reported data of neighborhood conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings revealed that individuals with higher levels of anxiety and depression are more sensitive to objective indicators of neighborhood poverty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that there are systematic differences in how people perceive their surroundings. Implications of study findings are discussed in terms of improving models of adjustment.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, USA. chung@tcnj.edu
authors.forename: He Len
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Caressa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Slocum
authors.forename: Tanisha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Proverbs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires