title: Are the poverty histories of neighbourhoods associated with psychosocial well-being among a representative sample of California mothers? An observational study.
abstract: We examine the association between the poverty histories of neighbourhoods and three indicators of psychosocial well-being-depressive symptoms, sense of control and number of stressors-in an observational study of mothers of young children in California. We also consider if length of residence in a neighbourhood moderates the association between neighbourhood poverty history and psychosocial well-being.
  
  
  
  Data come from the Geographic Research on Well-being (GROW) Study, a subsample of mothers who completed the population-based California Maternal and Infant Health Assessment in 2003-2007 and were reinterviewed in 2012-2013. Poverty histories of neighbourhoods were constructed using the Neighbourhood Change Database (1970-2000) and American Community Survey (2005-2009). The analytic sample included 2726 women from GROW residing in 1906 census tracts.
  
  
  
  Adjusting for individual socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, women living in neighbourhoods where poverty decreased over the 40-year period had lower odds of depressive symptoms and a greater sense of control than women living in long-term, low-poverty neighbourhoods. Women living in long-term high-poverty neighbourhoods or in neighbourhoods where poverty increased over the 40-year period reported lower sense of control than women living in long-term, low-poverty neighbourhoods and these effects were modified by length of time living in the neighbourhood. No significant effects of neighbourhood poverty histories were found for number of stressors.
  
  
  
  Policies aimed at reducing neighbourhood poverty may improve mothers' psychosocial well-being.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Katrina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Walsemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Child
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heck
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Margerison-Zilko
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Braveman
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marchi
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cubbin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D002140:California; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: DEPRESSION; Neighborhood/place; POVERTY; PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS; STRESS