IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v99y2013icp56-63.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Neighborhood Hispanic composition and depressive symptoms among Mexican-descent residents of Texas City, Texas

Author

Listed:
  • Shell, Alyssa Marie
  • Peek, M. Kristen
  • Eschbach, Karl

Abstract

Substantial research shows that increased Hispanic neighborhood concentration is associated with several beneficial health outcomes including lower adult mortality, better self-rated health, and fewer respiratory problems. Literature on the relationship of Hispanic composition and depressive symptoms is more equivocal. In addition, few studies have directly investigated hypothesized mechanisms of this relationship. This study uses data from a probability sample of 1238 Mexican-descent adults living in 48 neighborhoods in Texas City, Texas. Multilevel regression models investigate whether Hispanic neighborhood composition is associated with fewer depressive symptoms. This study also investigates whether social support, perceived discrimination, and perceived stress mediate or moderate the relationship, and whether results differ by primary language used at home. We find that individuals living in high Hispanic composition neighborhoods experience fewer depressive symptoms than individuals in low Hispanic composition neighborhoods. In addition, we find that these beneficial effects only apply to respondents who speak English. Social support, perceived discrimination, and perceived stress mediate the Hispanic composition–depressive symptoms relationship. In addition, discrimination and stress moderate the relationship between Hispanic composition and depressive symptoms. Our findings support theories linking higher neighborhood Hispanic composition and better mental health, and suggest that Spanish language use, social support, discrimination and stress may play important roles in the Hispanic composition–depressive symptoms relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Shell, Alyssa Marie & Peek, M. Kristen & Eschbach, Karl, 2013. "Neighborhood Hispanic composition and depressive symptoms among Mexican-descent residents of Texas City, Texas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 56-63.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:99:y:2013:i:c:p:56-63
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613005546
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sadhna Diwan, 2008. "Limited English Proficiency, Social Network Characteristics, and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Immigrants," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(3), pages 184-191.
    2. Mair, Christina & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Osypuk, Theresa L. & Rapp, Stephen R. & Seeman, Teresa & Watson, Karol E., 2010. "Is neighborhood racial/ethnic composition associated with depressive symptoms? The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 541-550, August.
    3. Subramanian, S.V. & Chen, J.T. & Rehkopf, D.H. & Waterman, P.D. & Krieger, N., 2005. "Racial disparities in context: A multilevel analysis of neighborhood variations in poverty and excess mortality among black populations in Massachusetts," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(2), pages 260-265.
    4. Viruell-Fuentes, E.A. & Morenoff, J.D. & Williams, D.R. & House, J.S., 2011. "Language of interview, self-rated health, and the other Latino health puzzle," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(7), pages 1306-1313.
    5. Franzini, Luisa & Caughy, Margaret & Spears, William & Eugenia Fernandez Esquer, Maria, 2005. "Neighborhood economic conditions, social processes, and self-rated health in low-income neighborhoods in Texas: A multilevel latent variables model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1135-1150, September.
    6. Almeida, Joanna & Molnar, Beth E. & Kawachi, Ichiro & Subramanian, S.V., 2009. "Ethnicity and nativity status as determinants of perceived social support: Testing the concept of familism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1852-1858, May.
    7. Angel, Ronald & Guarnaccia, Peter J., 1989. "Mind, body, and culture: Somatization among Hispanics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 1229-1238, January.
    8. Viruell-Fuentes, E.A. & Schulz, A.J., 2009. "Toward a dynamic conceptualization of social ties and context: Implications for understanding immigrant and Latino health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(12), pages 2167-2175.
    9. Robert Hummer & Daniel Powers & Starling Pullum & Ginger Gossman & W. Frisbie, 2007. "Paradox found (again): Infant mortality among the Mexican-origin population in the united states," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(3), pages 441-457, August.
    10. Viruell-Fuentes, Edna A., 2007. "Beyond acculturation: Immigration, discrimination, and health research among Mexicans in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 1524-1535, October.
    11. Franzini, Luisa & Fernandez-Esquer, Maria Eugenia, 2006. "The association of subjective social status and health in low-income Mexican-origin individuals in Texas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 788-804, August.
    12. Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores, 2000. "Residential segregation and the epidemiology of infectious diseases," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 1143-1161, October.
    13. Carol S. Aneshensel & Richard G. Wight & Dana Miller-Martinez & Amanda L. Botticello & Arun S. Karlamangla & Teresa E. Seeman, 2007. "Urban Neighborhoods and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(1), pages 52-59.
    14. Cagney, K.A. & Browning, C.R. & Wallace, D.M., 2007. "The Latino paradox in neighborhood context: The case of asthma and other respiratory conditions," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(5), pages 919-925.
    15. Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores & Pan, Jocelyn & Jun, Hee-Jin & Osypuk, Theresa L. & Emmons, Karen M., 2005. "The effect of immigrant generation on smoking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1223-1242, September.
    16. Osypuk, Theresa L. & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Hadley, Craig & Kandula, Namratha R., 2009. "Are immigrant enclaves healthy places to live? The Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 110-120, July.
    17. Eschbach, K. & Ostir, G.V. & Patel, K.V. & Markides, K.S. & Goodwin, J.S., 2004. "Neighborhood context and mortality among older Mexican Americans: Is there a barrio advantage?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(10), pages 1807-1812.
    18. Sherbourne, Cathy Donald & Stewart, Anita L., 1991. "The MOS social support survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 705-714, January.
    19. Cook, B. & Alegría, M. & Lin, J.Y. & Guo, J., 2009. "Pathways and correlates connecting Latinos' mental health with exposure to the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(12), pages 2247-2254.
    20. Lee, Min-Ah, 2009. "Neighborhood residential segregation and mental health: A multilevel analysis on Hispanic Americans in Chicago," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 1975-1984, June.
    21. Diez Roux, Ana V., 2004. "Estimating neighborhood health effects: the challenges of causal inference in a complex world," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1953-1960, May.
    22. Carpiano, Richard M., 2006. "Toward a neighborhood resource-based theory of social capital for health: Can Bourdieu and sociology help?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 165-175, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S. & Kuhl, Danielle C., 2014. "A different look at the epidemiological paradox: Self-rated health, perceived social cohesion, and neighborhood immigrant context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 118-125.
    2. Hyunjung Lee & Lorena M. Estrada-Martínez, 2020. "Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Neighborhood Changes from Adolescence to Adulthood: Latent Class Growth Analysis and Multilevel Growth Curve Models," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Plascak, Jesse J. & Molina, Yamile & Wu-Georges, Samantha & Idris, Ayah & Thompson, Beti, 2016. "Latino residential segregation and self-rated health among Latinos: Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2012–2014," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 38-47.
    4. Arévalo, Sandra P. & Tucker, Katherine L. & Falcón, Luis M., 2015. "Beyond cultural factors to understand immigrant mental health: Neighborhood ethnic density and the moderating role of pre-migration and post-migration factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 91-100.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fernando Riosmena & Randall Kuhn & Warren C. Jochem, 2017. "Explaining the Immigrant Health Advantage: Self-selection and Protection in Health-Related Factors Among Five Major National-Origin Immigrant Groups in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 175-200, February.
    2. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S. & Kuhl, Danielle C., 2014. "A different look at the epidemiological paradox: Self-rated health, perceived social cohesion, and neighborhood immigrant context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 118-125.
    3. Viruell-Fuentes, Edna A. & Miranda, Patricia Y. & Abdulrahim, Sawsan, 2012. "More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2099-2106.
    4. Plascak, Jesse J. & Molina, Yamile & Wu-Georges, Samantha & Idris, Ayah & Thompson, Beti, 2016. "Latino residential segregation and self-rated health among Latinos: Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2012–2014," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 38-47.
    5. Fernando Riosmena & Rebeca Wong & Alberto Palloni, 2013. "Migration Selection, Protection, and Acculturation in Health: A Binational Perspective on Older Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1039-1064, June.
    6. Francisca M. Antman & Brian Duncan & Stephen J. Trejo, 2020. "Ethnic attrition, assimilation, and the measured health outcomes of Mexican Americans," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1499-1522, October.
    7. Andrew Fenelon, 2017. "Rethinking the Hispanic Paradox: The Mortality Experience of Mexican Immigrants in Traditional Gateways and New Destinations," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 567-599, September.
    8. Li, Kelin & Wen, Ming & Henry, Kevin A., 2017. "Ethnic density, immigrant enclaves, and Latino health risks: A propensity score matching approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 44-52.
    9. Yang, Tse-Chuan & Shoff, Carla & Noah, Aggie J. & Black, Nyesha & Sparks, Corey S., 2014. "Racial segregation and maternal smoking during pregnancy: A multilevel analysis using the racial segregation interaction index," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 26-36.
    10. Jennifer J. Salinas & Elizabeth Rocha & Bassent E. Abdelbary & Jennifer Gay & Ken Sexton, 2012. "Impact of Hispanic Ethnic Concentration and Socioeconomic Status on Obesity Prevalence in Texas Counties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, April.
    11. Bilecen, Başak & Vacca, Raffaele, 2021. "The isolation paradox: A comparative study of social support and health across migrant generations in the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    12. Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores & Sanchez-Vaznaugh, Emma V. & Viruell-Fuentes, Edna A. & Almeida, Joanna, 2012. "Integrating social epidemiology into immigrant health research: A cross-national framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2060-2068.
    13. Echeverría, Sandra E. & Gundersen, Daniel A. & Manderski, Michelle T.B. & Delnevo, Cristine D., 2015. "Social norms and its correlates as a pathway to smoking among young Latino adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 187-195.
    14. Mair, Christina & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Osypuk, Theresa L. & Rapp, Stephen R. & Seeman, Teresa & Watson, Karol E., 2010. "Is neighborhood racial/ethnic composition associated with depressive symptoms? The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 541-550, August.
    15. Arévalo, Sandra P. & Tucker, Katherine L. & Falcón, Luis M., 2015. "Beyond cultural factors to understand immigrant mental health: Neighborhood ethnic density and the moderating role of pre-migration and post-migration factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 91-100.
    16. Hong, Seunghye & Zhang, Wei & Walton, Emily, 2014. "Neighborhoods and mental health: Exploring ethnic density, poverty, and social cohesion among Asian Americans and Latinos," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 117-124.
    17. Vang, Zoua M. & Elo, Irma T., 2013. "Exploring the health consequences of majority–minority neighborhoods: Minority diversity and birthweight among native-born and foreign-born blacks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 56-65.
    18. Ellen-ge D Denton & Jonathan A Shaffer & Carmela Alcantara & Lynn Clemow & Elizabeth Brondolo, 2015. "Hispanic residential ethnic density and depression in post–acute coronary syndrome patients: Re-thinking the role of social support," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 61(3), pages 225-235, May.
    19. Hacker, Karen & Chu, Jocelyn & Leung, Carolyn & Marra, Robert & Pirie, Alex & Brahimi, Mohamed & English, Margaret & Beckmann, Joshua & Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores & Marlin, Robert P., 2011. "The impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on immigrant health: Perceptions of immigrants in Everett, Massachusetts, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(4), pages 586-594, August.
    20. Sandi L. Pruitt & Jasmin A. Tiro & Lei Xuan & Simon J. Craddock Lee, 2016. "Hispanic and Immigrant Paradoxes in U.S. Breast Cancer Mortality: Impact of Neighborhood Poverty and Hispanic Density," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-14, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:99:y:2013:i:c:p:56-63. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.