Racial Residential Segregation, Perceived Neighborhood Conditions, and Self‐Rated Health: The Case of Houston, Texas

Abstract

Previous research has linked racial residential segregation to a number of poor health outcomes. Yet, the mechanisms that could account for this association remain poorly understood and have seldom been empirically tested in the literature. In an analysis of the Houston area, we test one potential mechanism-perceived neighborhood conditions, as measured by two indices for neighborhood disorder and environmental quality. Using individual-level health data from a survey of Houston residents and neighborhood-level sociodemographic data from the U.S. Census, we estimate a series of multilevel models. We find that black and Latino segregation are linked to the perceived neighborhood disorder index, but no such relationship for the environmental quality index. Moreover, we find that both indices are related to poor self-rated health in that residents who evaluate their neighborhood conditions negatively are more likely to evaluate their health as poor. We also find a direct effect of black and Latino segregation on poor self-rated health, and that perceived neighborhood disorder partially mediates this relationship. We do not find a mediation effect for environmental quality. The results suggest that in order to improve the health of these communities, both residential segregation and neighborhood conditions need to be addressed.

COVID-19 and social distancing: Disparities in mobility adaptation between income groups

“…The results were in line with media speculations, which might explain a reason behind the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19: people with low income did not have a practical choice to stay at home. Because research indicates that racial residential segregation in Houston had already been associated with poor-self reported health before the COVID-19 outbreak ( Anderson and Oncken, 2020 ), it was likely that the pandemic had amplified inequity in the society.…”