Neighborhood residential segregation and mental health: A multilevel analysis on Hispanic Americans in Chicago

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 68; no. 11; pp. 1975 - 1984
• Main Author: Lee, Min-Ah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2009; Elsevier; Pergamon Press Inc
• Series: Social Science & Medicine
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Chicago; Chicago Mental health Hispanic Americans Neighborhood residential segregation Social capital; Class segregation; Comparative analysis; Depression; Economic Conditions; Ethnic Neighborhoods; Female; Health Surveys; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic Americans - psychology; Humans; Illinois; Income Inequality; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Health; Mexican Americans; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Neighborhood residential segregation; Neighborhoods; Prejudice; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Puerto Rican Americans; Puerto Ricans; Residence Characteristics; Residential Segregation; Segregation; Social capital; Social inequality; Social Support; Studies; U.S.A; Young Adult; United States; North America; Illinois; America; Chicago; United States > US; Chicago Illinois; Neighborhood residential segregation; Chicago; Social capital; Mental health; Hispanic Americans; Human; Social influence; American; Segregation; Authorized capital; Residential neighborhoods; Latinamerican; Ethnic group; Multilevel analysis; Ecological study; Social medicine; Hispanic; Public health
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.02.040

Compared with the relationship between neighborhood-level residential segregation and physical health of Hispanic Americans, less is known about how neighborhood residential segregation affects mental health. This study examines if, and how, neighborhood residential segregation is associated with the mental health of Puerto Rican and Mexican Americans in Chicago. Multilevel analyses reveal that neighborhood residential segregation is positively associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety in both groups. Neighborhood segregation, however, has more salient effects on the mental health of Mexican Americans. For Puerto Rican Americans, the effects of neighborhood segregation on mental health become nonsignificant after controlling for neighborhood-level income and individual-level covariates, whereas neighborhood segregation is strongly associated with the mental health of Mexican Americans even after controlling for other covariates. These findings show that living in a Mexican American-dominated community is not beneficial to mental health, in contrast to findings for physical health shown in previous studies.