title: Do changes in residents' fear of crime impact their walking? Longitudinal results from RESIDE.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the influence of fear of crime on walking for participants in a longitudinal study of residents in new suburbs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (n=485) in Perth, Australia, completed a questionnaire about three years after moving to their neighbourhood (2007-2008), and again four years later (2011-2012). Measures included fear of crime, neighbourhood perceptions and walking (min/week). Objective environmental measures were generated for each participant's neighbourhood, defined as the 1600 m road network distance from home, at each time-point. Linear regression models examined the impact of changes in fear of crime on changes in walking, with progressive adjustment for other changes in the built environment, neighbourhood perceptions and demographics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An increase in fear of crime was associated with a decrease in residents' walking inside the local neighbourhood. For each increase in fear of crime (i.e., one level on a five-point Likert scale) total walking decreased by 22 min/week (p=0.002), recreational walking by 13 min/week (p=0.031) and transport walking by 7 min/week (p=0.064).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides longitudinal evidence that changes in residents' fear of crime influence their walking behaviours. Interventions that reduce fear of crime are likely to increase walking and produce public health gains.
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: sarah.foster@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: Matthew.Knuiman@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knuiman
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: paula.hooper@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: Hayley.christian@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Hayley
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Christian
authors.affiliation: McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia. Electronic address: b.giles-corti@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Billie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giles-Corti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004779:Environment Design; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011634:Public Health; D011998:Recreation; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012449:Safety; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Fear of crime; Longitudinal; Natural experiment; Neighbourhood; Physical activity; Walking