Neighborhood environments and psychological distress 6-years later: results from the San Diego HCHS/SOL community and surrounding areas study

Linda C Gallo^{1

2}, Scott C Roesch³, Carlos E Rosas^{4

5}, Heidy Mendez-Rodriguez^{4

6}, Gregory A Talavera^{3

4}, Matthew A Allison⁷, Daniela Sotres-Alvarez⁸, James F Sallis⁵, Marta M Jankowska⁹, Kimberly L Savin⁶, Krista M Perreira¹⁰, Earle C Chambers¹¹, Martha L Daviglus¹², Jordan A Carlson¹³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA. lgallo@sdsu.edu.
² South Bay Latino Research Center, San Diego State University, 780 Bay Blvd Suite 200, Chula Vista, CA, 91910, USA. lgallo@sdsu.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁴ South Bay Latino Research Center, San Diego State University, 780 Bay Blvd Suite 200, Chula Vista, CA, 91910, USA.
⁵ Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁶ SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine, the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁸ Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁹ Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
¹² Institute for Minority Health Research, University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹³ Department of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA.

PMID: 39269624
PMCID: PMC12333931 (available on 2026-04-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-024-02759-2

Neighborhood environments and psychological distress 6-years later: results from the San Diego HCHS/SOL community and surrounding areas study

Linda C Gallo et al. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2025 Apr.

. 2025 Apr;60(4):837-848.

doi: 10.1007/s00127-024-02759-2. Epub 2024 Sep 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA. lgallo@sdsu.edu.
² South Bay Latino Research Center, San Diego State University, 780 Bay Blvd Suite 200, Chula Vista, CA, 91910, USA. lgallo@sdsu.edu.
³ Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁴ South Bay Latino Research Center, San Diego State University, 780 Bay Blvd Suite 200, Chula Vista, CA, 91910, USA.
⁵ Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁶ SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine, the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁸ Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁹ Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
¹² Institute for Minority Health Research, University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹³ Department of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA.

PMID: 39269624
PMCID: PMC12333931 (available on 2026-04-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s00127-024-02759-2

Abstract

Purpose: The current study examined associations of social and built features of neighborhood environments with psychological distress 6 years later and whether these associations were explained by stress and social factors, among Hispanic/Latino adults from the HCHS/SOL and SOL CASAS Ancillary Study.

Methods: In the SOL CASAS Ancillary Study, HCHS/SOL San Diego participants' baseline (2008-2011) home addresses were geocoded, neighborhoods were defined using 800 m radial buffers, and variables representing neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, social disorder, walkability, and greenness were created. Psychological distress (anxiety and depression symptoms) and proposed pathway variables chronic stress, social support, and family cohesion were assessed at HCHS/SOL Visit 2 (2014-2017).

Results: On average, the population (n = 2785) was 39.47 years old, 53.3% were women, and 92.3% were of Mexican heritage. In complex survey regression analyses that accounted for sociodemographic covariates, the complex sampling design, and sample weights, greater baseline neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation predicted lower family cohesion at Visit 2 (B = -0.99, 95% CI [-1.97, -0.06]). Path models showed indirect associations of baseline neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation with Visit 2 psychological distress through family cohesion (MacKinnon's 95% CI depression [0.001, 0.026]; 3.9% of the variance accounted for; anxiety [0.00071, 0.019] 3.0% of the variance accounted for).

Conclusions: Among adults of mostly Mexican heritage from the San Diego, CA area, neighborhood deprivation indirectly predicted later psychological distress through family cohesion. No other effects of neighborhood variables were observed.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Hispanic; Neighborhood; Prospective; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Conflict of Interest: The authors have no known conflicts of interest to disclose. Disclosures: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Neighborhood environments and psychological distress 6-years later: results from the San Diego HCHS/SOL community and surrounding areas study

Affiliations

Neighborhood environments and psychological distress 6-years later: results from the San Diego HCHS/SOL community and surrounding areas study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical