The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology

Oakes, J. Michael

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.08.004

Cited by 613 publications

(476 citation statements)

References 200 publications

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“…14,15 In addition to low power, one of the major limitations of our analysis is that we were unable to determine how much of the association we observed between neighborhood poverty and sexual network position was due to context as opposed Odds ratios are from logistic regression models with robust standard errors assuming clustering within CBGs but not between (Stata logistic, cluster () option) to composition. 25 Our a priori hypothesis was that while individual-level income may affect network position, it is living in a neighborhood characterized by poverty that is most important, due to contextual pathways through the sex ratio and norms about sexual behaviors. However, distinguishing between these two hypotheses requires individual-level measures of income, which were not available in our dataset.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Environment and Sexual Network Position

et al. 2010

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Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are strongly associated with neighborhood poverty; however, the mechanisms responsible for this association remain unclear. Using a population-based study of sexual networks among urban African American adolescents, we tested the hypothesis that poverty, unemployment, and the sex ratio drive STI rates by affecting sexual network structure. Participants were categorized as being in one of three network positions that had previously been found to be strongly linked to infection with chlamydia and gonorrhea: being in a confirmed dyad (i.e., a monogamous pair), being connected to a larger network through one partner, and being in the center of a larger network. We found that only poverty was statistically significantly associated with sexual network position. Residing in the poorest third of neighborhoods was associated with 85% decreased odds of being in confirmed dyads. There was no association of sexual network position with neighborhood employment. Living in a neighborhood with an unequal number of young men and women appeared to be associated with a higher likelihood of being in a confirmed dyad; however, the differences were not statistically significant. These results suggest that poverty may impact STI rates by shaping sexual network structure, but we did not find any evidence that this association operates through unemployment or the sex ratio.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Environment and Sexual Network Position

et al. 2010

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“…While this subject is a challenge in all observational epidemiology (Hernan & Robins, 2006) the analysis of contextual causal effects on health presents specific difficulties (Merlo & Chaix, 2006;Oakes JM, 2003) CONCLUSIONS Our analyses demonstrate that the interpretation of specific and general contextual effects in multilevel analyses need to be be performed simultaneously. Otherwise specific contextual effects may lead to misleading conclusions.…”

Section: Specific Contextual Effects: On the Association Between Contmentioning

confidence: 96%

Bringing the individual back to small-area variation studies: A multilevel analysis of all-cause mortality in Andalusia, Spain

Merlo

Viciana-Fernández²,

Fariñas³

2012

Social Science & Medicine

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“…A third limitation in this study as in nearly all neighborhood effects studies [71,72] is residential self-selection-the tendency for people to choose neighborhoods that better support their chosen lifestyles. For example, because disorder can act as a barrier to walking only for subjects who would ever choose to walk, if those subjects on average choose less disordered neighborhoods, then an estimated effect of disorder failing to account for this difference in walking preferences would be biased.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Disorder and Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

et al. 2017

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Neighborhood physical disorder-the visual indications of neighborhood deterioration-may inhibit outdoor physical activity, particularly among older adults. However, few previous studies of the association between neighborhood disorder and physical activity have focused on this sensitive population group, and most have been cross-sectional. We examined the relationship between neighborhood physical disorder and physical activity, measured using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), in a three-wave longitudinal study of 3497 New York City residents aged 65-75 at baseline weighted to be representative of the older adult population of New York City. We used longitudinal mixed linear regression controlling for a number of individual and neighborhood factors to estimate the association of disorder with PASE score at baseline and change in PASE score over 2 years. There were too few subjects to assess the effect of changes in disorder on activity levels. In multivariable mixed regression models accounting for individual and neighborhood factors; for missing data and for loss to followup, each standard deviation increase in neighborhood disorder was associated with an estimated 2.0 units (95% CI 0.3, 3.6) lower PASE score at baseline, or the equivalent of about 6 min of walking per day. However, physical disorder was not related to changes in PASE score over 2 years of follow-up. In this ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population of urban older adults, residents of more disordered neighborhoods were on average less active at baseline. Physical disorder was not associated with changes in overall physical activity over time.

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The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology

Cited by 613 publications

References 200 publications

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Environment and Sexual Network Position

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Environment and Sexual Network Position

Bringing the individual back to small-area variation studies: A multilevel analysis of all-cause mortality in Andalusia, Spain

Neighborhood Disorder and Physical Activity among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

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