title: Does substance use moderate the association of neighborhood disadvantage with perceived stress and safety in the activity spaces of urban youth?
abstract: This study investigates the association of activity space-based exposure to neighborhood disadvantage with momentary perceived stress and safety, and the moderation of substance use on those associations, among a sample of 139 urban, primarily African American, adolescents.
  
  
  
  Geospatial technologies are integrated with Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to capture exposure to neighborhood disadvantage and perceived stress and safety in the activity space. A relative neighborhood disadvantage measure for each subject is calculated by conditioning the neighborhood disadvantage observed at the EMA location on that of the home neighborhood. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) are used to model the effect of relative neighborhood disadvantage on momentary perceived stress and safety, and the extent to which substance use moderates those associations.
  
  
  
  Relative neighborhood disadvantage is significantly associated with higher perceived stress, lower perceived safety, and greater substance use involvement. The association of relative neighborhood disadvantage with stress is significantly stronger among those with greater substance use involvement.
  
  
  
  This research highlights the value of integrating geospatial technologies with EMA and developing personalized measures of environmental exposure for investigating neighborhood effects on substance use, and suggests substance use intervention strategies aimed at neighborhood conditions. Future research should seek to disentangle the causal pathways of influence and selection that relate neighborhood environment, stress, and substance use, while also accounting for the role of gender and family and peer social contexts.
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Geography and Urban Studies, 1115 W. Polett Walk, 309 Gladfelter Hall, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: jmennis@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mennis
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Commonwealth Institute for Child and Family Studies, Richmond, VA, USA. Electronic address: Michael.Mason@vcuhealth.org.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA. Electronic address: jlight@ori.org.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Light
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA. Electronic address: juliecr@ori.org.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rusby
authors.affiliation: Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA. Electronic address: ErikaW@ori.org.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Westling
authors.affiliation: Villanova University, Department of Computing Sciences, Villanova, PA, USA. Electronic address: thomas.way@villanova.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Way
authors.affiliation: Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Psychiatry, Richmond, VA, USA. Electronic address: nikola.zaharakis@vcuhealth.org.
authors.forename: Nikola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zahakaris
authors.affiliation: Oregon State University, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Corvallis, OR, USA. Electronic address: brian.flay@oregonstate.edu.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Flay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D040362:Geographic Information Systems / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010465:Perception; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012449:Safety; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Activity space; Adolescent; Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA); Geography; Neighborhood effects