title: Neighborhood income inequality, social capital and emotional distress among adolescents: A population-based study.
abstract: Theory holds that income inequality may harm adolescent mental health by reducing social capital within neighborhood communities. However, research on this topic has been very limited. We use multilevel data on 102 public schools and 5958 adolescents in Iceland (15 and 16 years old) to examine whether income inequality within neighborhoods is associated with emotional distress in adolescents. Moreover, we test whether indicators of social capital, including social trust and embeddedness in neighborhood social networks, mediate this contextual effect. The findings show that neighborhood income inequality positively influences emotional distress of individual adolescents, net of their personal household situations and social relations. However, although the indicators of social capital negatively influence emotional distress, they do not mediate the contextual effect of neighborhood income inequality. The study illustrates the role of economic disparities in adolescent mental health, but calls for more research on the underlying social and social-psychological mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: University of Iceland, Faculty of Psychology, Oddi, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. Electronic address: arv5@hi.is.
authors.forename: Arndis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vilhjalmsdottir
authors.affiliation: University of Iceland, Faculty of Psychology, Oddi, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. Electronic address: rbg@hi.is.
authors.forename: Ragna B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gardarsdottir
authors.affiliation: University of Iceland, Faculty of Social Science, Oddi, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. Electronic address: bernburg@hi.is.
authors.forename: Jon Gunnar
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Bernburg
authors.affiliation: Reykjavik University, School of Business, Menntavegi 1, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. Electronic address: ingadora@ru.is.
authors.forename: Inga Dora
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Sigfusdottir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011203:Poverty; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D066270:Social Capital; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Adolescents; Emotional distress; Iceland; Multi-level modeling; Neighborhood income inequality; Social capital