Neighborhood characteristics and depressive symptoms in an older population

Abstract

Objectives: We explored relationships between depressive symptoms and neighborhood environment measures including traffic safety, crime, social capital, and density of businesses in community-dwelling older adults from four different regions of the United States.

Method: The Healthy Aging Research Network walking study is a cross-sectional study of 884 adults aged 65+, which included a 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale of depressive symptoms, demographics, self-reported neighborhood perceptions, and objective neighborhood data.

Results: After adjusting for individual covariates, reports of neighborhood crime, unsafe traffic, and unwillingness of neighbors to help each other were significantly positively associated with depressive symptoms among participants.

Conclusion: This research suggests an association between self-reported depressive symptoms and the social and built environment; examining causal association requires additional longitudinal research in diverse populations of older adults.

Keywords: built environment; depression; neighborhood; older adults; social capital.