IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v50y2013icp149-157.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The relationship of area-level sociodemographic characteristics, household composition and individual-level socioeconomic status on walking behavior among adults

Author

Listed:
  • Hearst, Mary O.
  • Sirard, John R.
  • Forsyth, Ann
  • Parker, Emily D.
  • Klein, Elizabeth G.
  • Green, Christine G.
  • Lytle, Leslie A.

Abstract

Understanding the contextual factors associated with why adults walk is important for those interested in increasing walking as a mode of transportation and leisure. This paper investigates the relationships between neighborhood-level sociodemographic context, individual level sociodemographic characteristics and walking for leisure and transport. Data from two community-based studies of adults (n=550) were used to determine the association between the Area Sociodemographic Environment (ASDE), calculated from U.S. Census variables, and individual-level SES as potential correlates of walking behavior. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons and Pearson’s correlations coefficients were used to assess bivariate relationships. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the relationship between ASDE, as quartiles, and walking behavior. Adjusted models suggest adults engage in more minutes of walking for transportation and less walking for leisure in the most disadvantaged compared to the least disadvantaged neighborhoods but adding individual level demographics and SES eliminated the significant results. However, when models were stratified for free or reduced cost lunch, of those with children who qualified for free or reduced lunch, those who lived in the wealthiest neighborhoods engaged in 10.7min less of total walking per day compared to those living in the most challenged neighborhoods (p<0.001). Strategies to increase walking for transportation or leisure need to take account of individual level socioeconomic factors in addition to area-level measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Hearst, Mary O. & Sirard, John R. & Forsyth, Ann & Parker, Emily D. & Klein, Elizabeth G. & Green, Christine G. & Lytle, Leslie A., 2013. "The relationship of area-level sociodemographic characteristics, household composition and individual-level socioeconomic status on walking behavior among adults," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 149-157.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:50:y:2013:i:c:p:149-157
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2013.01.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096585641300013X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2013.01.006?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. Oakes, J. Michael, 2004. "The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1929-1952, May.
    2. Crane, Randall, 2007. "Is There a Quiet Revolution in Women's Travel? Revisiting the Gender Gap in Commuting," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8nj9n8nb, University of California Transportation Center.
    3. Lee, Yuhwa & Hickman, Mark & Washington, Simon, 2007. "Household type and structure, time-use pattern, and trip-chaining behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1004-1020, December.
    4. Ann Forsyth & J. Michael Oakes & Kathryn H. Schmitz & Mary Hearst, 2007. "Does Residential Density Increase Walking and Other Physical Activity?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(4), pages 679-697, April.
    5. Bodea, Tudor D. & Garrow, Laurie A. & Meyer, Michael D. & Ross, Catherine L., 2009. "Socio-demographic and built environment influences on the odds of being overweight or obese: The Atlanta experience," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 430-444, May.
    6. Cerin, Ester & Leslie, Eva & Owen, Neville, 2009. "Explaining socio-economic status differences in walking for transport: An ecological analysis of individual, social and environmental factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1013-1020, March.
    7. Macintyre, Sally & Ellaway, Anne & Cummins, Steven, 2002. "Place effects on health: how can we conceptualise, operationalise and measure them?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 125-139, July.
    8. Cao, Xinyu (Jason) & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L., 2009. "The relationship between the built environment and nonwork travel: A case study of Northern California," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 548-559, June.
    9. Cerin, Ester & Leslie, Eva, 2008. "How socio-economic status contributes to participation in leisure-time physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2596-2609, June.
    10. Maat, Kees & Timmermans, Harry J.P., 2009. "Influence of the residential and work environment on car use in dual-earner households," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 654-664, August.
    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. Neves, Carlos Eduardo Teixeira & da Silva, Alan Ricardo & Arruda, Fabiana Serra de, 2021. "Exploring the link between built environment and walking choice in São Paulo city, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Ragna Stalsberg & Arve Vorland Pedersen, 2018. "Are Differences in Physical Activity across Socioeconomic Groups Associated with Choice of Physical Activity Variables to Report?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-23, May.
    3. Arlie Adkins & Carrie Makarewicz & Michele Scanze & Maia Ingram & Gretchen Luhr, 2017. "Contextualizing Walkability: Do Relationships Between Built Environments and Walking Vary by Socioeconomic Context?," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(3), pages 296-314, July.
    4. Thomas Klinger & Martin Lanzendorf, 2016. "Moving between mobility cultures: what affects the travel behavior of new residents?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 243-271, March.
    5. Jayne Hutchinson & Stephanie L. Prady & Michaela A. Smith & Piran C. L. White & Hilary M. Graham, 2015. "A Scoping Review of Observational Studies Examining Relationships between Environmental Behaviors and Health Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-26, May.

    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. Mitchell, Richard & Dujardin, Claire & Popham, Frank & Farfan Portet, Maria-Isabel & Thomas, Isabelle & Lorant, Vincent, 2011. "Using matched areas to explore international differences in population health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1113-1122.
    2. Spielman, Seth E. & Yoo, Eun-hye, 2009. "The spatial dimensions of neighborhood effects," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1098-1105, March.
    3. Gil Solá, Ana, 2016. "Constructing work travel inequalities: The role of household gender contracts," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 32-40.
    4. Bhat, Chandra R. & Astroza, Sebastian & Sidharthan, Raghuprasad & Alam, Mohammad Jobair Bin & Khushefati, Waleed H., 2014. "A joint count-continuous model of travel behavior with selection based on a multinomial probit residential density choice model," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 31-51.
    5. Anna Maria Santiago & Kristen A. Berg & Joffré Leroux, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Neighborhood Conditions on Neurodevelopmental Disorders during Childhood," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, August.
    6. De Clercq, B. & Vyncke, V. & Hublet, A. & Elgar, F.J. & Ravens-Sieberer, U. & Currie, C. & Hooghe, M. & Ieven, A. & Maes, L., 2012. "Social capital and social inequality in adolescents’ health in 601 Flemish communities: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 202-210.
    7. Tao, Yinhua & van Ham, Maarten & Petrović, Ana & Ta, Na, 2023. "A household perspective on the commuting paradox: Longitudinal relationships between commuting time and subjective wellbeing for couples in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    8. Margaret Weden & Christine Peterson & Jeremy Miles & Regina Shih, 2015. "Evaluating Linearly Interpolated Intercensal Estimates of Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of U.S. Counties and Census Tracts 2001–2009," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(4), pages 541-559, August.
    9. Li, Shengxiao & Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, He & Quan, Jing, 2019. "Walking behavior in the old downtown Beijing: The impact of perceptions and attitudes and social variations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Cerin, Ester & Leslie, Eva & Owen, Neville, 2009. "Explaining socio-economic status differences in walking for transport: An ecological analysis of individual, social and environmental factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1013-1020, March.
    11. Collins, Patricia A. & MacFarlane, Robert, 2018. "Evaluating the determinants of switching to public transit in an automobile-oriented mid-sized Canadian city: A longitudinal analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 682-695.
    12. Stafford, Mai & Duke-Williams, Oliver & Shelton, Nicola, 2008. "Small area inequalities in health: Are we underestimating them?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 891-899, September.
    13. Juan Merlo & Philippe Wagner & Nermin Ghith & George Leckie, 2016. "An Original Stepwise Multilevel Logistic Regression Analysis of Discriminatory Accuracy: The Case of Neighbourhoods and Health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-31, April.
    14. Ivory, Vivienne C. & Collings, Sunny C. & Blakely, Tony & Dew, Kevin, 2011. "When does neighbourhood matter? Multilevel relationships between neighbourhood social fragmentation and mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1993-2002, June.
    15. Nicoleta Cutumisu & John C. Spence, 2012. "Sport Fields as Potential Catalysts for Physical Activity in the Neighbourhood," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, January.
    16. Nico Larco & Jean Stockard & Bethany Steiner & Amanda West, 2013. "Trips to Strips: Walking and Site Design in Suburban Multifamily Housing," Journal of Urban Design, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 281-303, May.
    17. Scheiner, Joachim & Holz-Rau, Christian, 2012. "Gendered travel mode choice: a focus on car deficient households," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 250-261.
    18. Arcaya, Mariana C. & Tucker-Seeley, Reginald D. & Kim, Rockli & Schnake-Mahl, Alina & So, Marvin & Subramanian, S.V., 2016. "Research on neighborhood effects on health in the United States: A systematic review of study characteristics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 16-29.
    19. Blumenberg, Evelyn & Schouten, Andrew & Brown, Anne, 2022. "Who’s in the driver’s seat? Gender and the division of car use in auto-deficit households," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 14-26.
    20. Craig, Lyn & van Tienoven, Theun Pieter, 2019. "Gender, mobility and parental shares of daily travel with and for children: a cross-national time use comparison," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 93-102.

    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:transa:v:50:y:2013:i:c:p:149-157. 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/547/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.