Future directions in residential segregation and health research: a multilevel approach

Abstract

The authors examine the research evidence on the effect of residential segregation on health, identify research gaps, and propose new research directions. Four recommendations are made on the basis of a review of the sociological and social epidemiology literature on residential segregation: (1) develop multilevel research designs to examine the effects of individual, neighborhood, and metropolitan-area factors on health outcomes; (2) continue examining the health effects of residential segregation among African Americans but also initiate studies examining segregation among Hispanics and Asians; (3) consider racial/ethnic segregation along with income segregation and other metropolitan area factors such as poverty concentration and metropolitan governance fragmentation; and (4) develop better conceptual frameworks of the pathways that may link various segregation dimensions to specific health outcomes.