%0 Journal Article %J J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %D 2007 %T Urban neighborhoods and depressive symptoms among older adults. %A Carol S Aneshensel %A Richard G Wight %A Miller-Martinez, Dana %A Amanda L. Botticello %A Arun S Karlamangla %A Teresa Seeman %K Activities of Daily Living %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Comorbidity %K Cross-Sectional Studies %K Depressive Disorder %K Female %K Health Status Indicators %K Health Surveys %K Humans %K Incidence %K Male %K Minority Groups %K Peer Group %K Population Dynamics %K Risk Factors %K Social Environment %K United States %K Urban Population %X

OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to determine whether depressive symptoms among older persons systematically vary across urban neighborhoods such that experiencing more symptoms is associated with low socioeconomic status (SES), high concentrations of ethnic minorities, low residential stability and low proportion aged 65 years and older.

METHODS: Survey data are from the Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a 1993 U.S. national probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons born in 1923 or earlier (i.e. people aged 70 or older). Neighborhood data are from the 1990 Census at the tract level. Hierarchical linear regression is used to estimate multilevel models.

RESULT: The average number of depressive symptoms varies across Census tracts independent of individual-level characteristics. Symptoms are not significantly associated with neighborhood SES, ethnic composition, or age structure when individual-level characteristics are controlled statistically. However, net of individual-level characteristics, symptoms are positively associated with neighborhood residential stability, pointing to a complex meaning of residential stability for the older population.

DISCUSSION: This study shows that apparent neighborhood-level socioeconomic effects on depressive symptoms among urban-dwelling older adults are largely if not entirely compositional in nature. Further, residential stability in the urban neighborhood may not be emotionally beneficial to its aged residents.

%B J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %I 62 %V 62 %P S52-9 %8 2007 Jan %G eng %N 1 %L newpubs20070403_Aneshensel_etal %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17284567?dopt=Abstract %4 Depressive Symptoms/Socioeconomic Factors/Urban Population %$ 17280 %R 10.1093/geronb/62.1.s52 %0 Journal Article %J Am J Epidemiol %D 2006 %T Urban neighborhood context, educational attainment, and cognitive function among older adults. %A Richard G Wight %A Carol S Aneshensel %A Miller-Martinez, Dana %A Amanda L. Botticello %A Janet R. Cummings %A Arun S Karlamangla %A Teresa Seeman %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Chi-Square Distribution %K Cognition Disorders %K Educational Status %K Female %K Humans %K Linear Models %K Male %K Residence Characteristics %K Risk Factors %K Socioeconomic factors %K United States %K Urban Population %X

Existing research has not addressed the potential impact of neighborhood context--educational attainment of neighbors in particular--on individual-level cognition among older adults. Using hierarchical linear modeling, the authors analyzed data from the 1993 Study of Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a large, nationally representative sample of US adults born before 1924. Data from participants residing in urban neighborhoods (n = 3,442) were linked with 1990 US Census tract data. Findings indicate that 1) average cognitive function varies significantly across US Census tracts; 2) older adults living in low-education areas fare less well cognitively than those living in high-education areas, net of individual characteristics, including their own education; 3) this association is sustained when controlling for contextual-level median household income; and 4) the effect of individual-level educational attainment differs across neighborhoods of varying educational profiles. Promoting educational attainment among the general population living in disadvantaged neighborhoods may prove cognitively beneficial to its aging residents because it may lead to meliorations in stressful life conditions and coping deficiencies.

%B Am J Epidemiol %I 163 %V 163 %P 1071-8 %8 2006 Jun 15 %G eng %N 12 %L pubs_2006_WightAJE.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16707655?dopt=Abstract %4 Cognition/EDUCATION/Socioeconomic Factors %$ 16570 %R 10.1093/aje/kwj176