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Why is poverty unhealthy? Social and physical mediators

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  • Cohen, Deborah A.
  • Farley, Thomas A.
  • Mason, Karen

Abstract

Socioeconomic status is associated with mortality, yet does not fully explain health disparities. This study analyzed data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), in the USA, to identify neighborhood-level factors associated with premature mortality. 1990 US Census data and mortality data from Chicago were merged with data from PHDCN, a study of 8782 residents in 343 Chicago neighborhoods. We performed a multivariate analysis to determine the association between premature mortality and concentrated disadvantage, residential stability, immigrant concentration, "collective efficacy" (a measure of willingness to help out for the common good), and "broken windows" (boarded up stores and homes, litter, and graffiti). Both collective efficacy and broken windows appeared to mediate the effect of concentrated disadvantage on all-cause premature mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease and homicide, but there was also an interaction between broken windows and collective efficacy. Non-income characteristics associated with poverty should be further investigated. Interventions to determine whether these factors are causally related to health are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Cohen, Deborah A. & Farley, Thomas A. & Mason, Karen, 2003. "Why is poverty unhealthy? Social and physical mediators," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(9), pages 1631-1641, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:57:y:2003:i:9:p:1631-1641
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    1. Nandi, Arijit & Galea, Sandro & Ahern, Jennifer & Bucciarelli, Angela & Vlahov, David & Tardiff, Kenneth, 2006. "What explains the association between neighborhood-level income inequality and the risk of fatal overdose in New York City?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 662-674, August.
    2. Dermatis Zacharias & Anastasiou Athanasios & Liargovas Panagiotis, 2019. "The Use of Information Systems (GIS) to Monitor the Quality of Life of Older People in Greece," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(6), pages 29-40, June.
    3. van Hooijdonk, Carolien & Droomers, Mariël & van Loon, Jeanne A.M. & van der Lucht, Fons & Kunst, Anton E., 2007. "Exceptions to the rule: Healthy deprived areas and unhealthy wealthy areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(6), pages 1326-1342, March.
    4. Cheng Cui & Baohua Wang & Hongyan Ren & Zhen Wang, 2019. "Spatiotemporal Variations in Gastric Cancer Mortality and Their Relations to Influencing Factors in S County, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-13, March.
    5. Xinguang Chen & Peigang Wang & Rhiana Wegner & Jie Gong & Xiaoyi Fang & Linda Kaljee, 2015. "Measuring Social Capital Investment: Scale Development and Examination of Links to Social Capital and Perceived Stress," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 669-687, February.
    6. Lee, Matthew R., 2010. "The protective effects of civic communities against all-cause mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1840-1846, June.
    7. Curry, Aaron & Latkin, Carl & Davey-Rothwell, Melissa, 2008. "Pathways to depression: The impact of neighborhood violent crime on inner-city residents in Baltimore, Maryland, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 23-30, July.
    8. Cohen, Deborah A. & Finch, Brian K. & Bower, Aimee & Sastry, Narayan, 2006. "Collective efficacy and obesity: The potential influence of social factors on health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 769-778, February.
    9. Mueller, Tom, 2020. "The poverty balancing equation: Expressing poverty of place as a population process," SocArXiv ws3gd, Center for Open Science.
    10. Carrie R. Leana & Vikas Mittal & Emily Stiehl, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Organizational Behavior and the Working Poor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 888-906, June.
    11. Brenda Robles & Tony Kuo & Courtney S. Thomas Tobin, 2021. "What Are the Relationships between Psychosocial Community Characteristics and Dietary Behaviors in a Racially/Ethnically Diverse Urban Population in Los Angeles County?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-18, September.
    12. Susan Cpublicet-Lundquist & Greg J. Duncan & Kathryn Edin & Jeffrey R. Kling, 2006. "Moving At-Risk Teenagers Out of High-Risk Neighborhoods: Why Girls Fare Better Than Boys," Working Papers 888, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    13. Bernard, Paul & Charafeddine, Rana & Frohlich, Katherine L. & Daniel, Mark & Kestens, Yan & Potvin, Louise, 2007. "Health inequalities and place: A theoretical conception of neighbourhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1839-1852, November.
    14. Cohen, Deborah A. & Ghosh-Dastidar, Bonnie & Scribner, Richard & Miu, Angela & Scott, Molly & Robinson, Paul & Farley, Thomas A. & Bluthenthal, Ricky N. & Brown-Taylor, Didra, 2006. "Alcohol outlets, gonorrhea, and the Los Angeles civil unrest: A longitudinal analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 3062-3071, June.
    15. Cheng Cui & Hang Dong & Hongyan Ren & Guozhen Lin & Lu Zhao, 2020. "Characterization of Esophageal Cancer and Its Association with Influencing Factors in Guangzhou City, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-14, February.
    16. Albor, C. & Uphoff, E.P. & Stafford, M. & Ballas, D. & Wilkinson, R.G. & Pickett, K.E., 2014. "The effects of socioeconomic incongruity in the neighbourhood on social support, self-esteem and mental health in England," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1-9.
    17. McDade, Thomas W. & Koning, Stephanie M., 2021. "Early origins of socioeconomic inequalities in chronic inflammation: Evaluating the contributions of low birth weight and short breastfeeding," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    18. Yuying Tong & Weixiang Luo & Martin Piotrowski, 2015. "The Association Between Parental Migration and Childhood Illness in Rural China," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 561-586, December.
    19. Aue, Katja & Roosen, Jutta & Jensen, Helen H., 2016. "Poverty dynamics in Germany: Evidence on the relationship between persistent poverty and health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 62-70.
    20. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S., 2011. "The neighborhood context of relative position, trust, and self-rated health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 42-49, July.
    21. Eileen E. Avery & Joan M. Hermsen & Danielle C. Kuhl, 2021. "Toward a Better Understanding of Perceptions of Neighborhood Social Cohesion in Rural and Urban Places," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 523-541, September.
    22. Parrado, Emilio A. & Flippen, Chenoa, 2010. "Community attachment, neighborhood context, and sex worker use among Hispanic migrants in Durham, North Carolina, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1059-1069, April.
    23. repec:pri:indrel:dsp019306sz29r is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Robert J Ursano & Jodi B A McKibben & Dori B Reissman & Xian Liu & Leming Wang & Robert J Sampson & Carol S Fullerton, 2014. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Community Collective Efficacy following the 2004 Florida Hurricanes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-9, February.

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