Latent Variables Quantifying Neighborhood Characteristics and Their Associations with Poor Mental Health.

ABSTRACT: Neighborhood characteristics can have profound impacts on resident mental health, but the wide variability in methodologies used across studies makes it difficult to reach a consensus as to the implications of these impacts. The aim of this study was to simplify the assessment of neighborhood influence on mental health. We used a factor analysis approach to reduce the multi-dimensional assessment of a neighborhood using census tracts and demographic data available from the American Community Survey (ACS). Multivariate quantitative characterization of the neighborhood was derived by performing a factor analysis on the 2011-2015 ACS data. The utility of the latent variables was examined by determining the association of these factors with poor mental health measures from the 500 Cities Proje

SUBMITTER: Forthman KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7908478 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature