Parental‐perceived neighborhood characteristics and adolescent depressive symptoms: A multilevel moderation analysis

Abstract

Aims This study examines the moderating role of parental neighborhood perceptions on the relationship between neighborhood structural disadvantage and adolescent depressive symptoms. Methods Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) consisting of 12,105 adolescents and their parents were used. Results Mixed effects multilevel modeling revealed that parental‐perceived neighborhood disorder was associated with higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms (β = .27, p ≤ .001). The interaction between neighborhood concentrated poverty and parental‐perceived neighborhood disorder was also significant (β = −.14, p ≤ .01). Low and high levels of parental‐perceived neighborhood disorder were associated with lower (β = −.41, p < .05) and higher (β = .46, p ≤ .01) levels of adolescent depressive symptoms, respectively, with increasing concentrated poverty. Parental‐perceived collective efficacy was not associated with adolescent depressive symptoms nor was it a moderator. Conclusion Findings suggest that the neighborhood's social environment may mitigate adolescent depressive symptoms. Implications for structural interventions are discussed.

The Price of Growing Up in a Low-Income Neighborhood: A Scoping Review of Associated Depressive Symptoms and Other Mood Disorders among Children and Adolescents

“…The World Health Organization has recognized neighborhood deprivation as one of the five key neighborhood/built environmental social determinants of mental health [7]. The prevalence of depression in youth residing in lowincome neighborhoods is also increasing [8]. This review scopes the research literature to examine how neighborhood poverty, as well as neighborhood gentrification, impacts child and adolescent depression, depressive symptoms, and mood disorders.…”

Who Is Able to Resist What Is Forbidden?—The Relationship between Health Literacy and Risk Behaviours in Secondary School Students in the Broader Social and Educational Context

“…If we consider inequalities in health, the neighbourhood must be taken into account. The environment—the neighbourhood or place of residence [ 11 , 12 ], school [ 13 , 14 ] and family [ 15 ]—where a young person grows up is crucial for their health and for the behaviour which influences their health. Poorly supportive neighbourhood circumstances result in young people living an inferior lifestyle.…”

Family and School Connectedness Associated with Lower Depression among Latinx Early Adolescents in an Agricultural County

“…First‐generation immigrant youth may particularly benefit from living in more ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods (Roosa et al, 2009). Conversely, higher levels of parent‐reported neighborhood disorder, as well as youth‐ and parent‐reported neighborhood safety concerns, are associated with higher levels of youth depressive symptoms (Behnke, Plunkett, Sands, & Bámaca‐Colbert, 2011; Dawson et al, 2019). Importantly, none of these studies focused on the impact of neighborhood cohesion on Latinx adolescent mental health in rural or agricultural settings, where neighborhood structure may markedly differ from urban settings.…”