Citation

Yang TC, Matthews SA. Health Place 2010; 16(5): 803-810.

Affiliation

The Social Science Research Institute, The Population Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, 803 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16801, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.04.005

PMID

20434389

PMCID

PMC3200568

Abstract

Most studies of the predictors of stress focus on individual characteristics. Linking multiple contextual data sources to an individual-level health survey, we explore the associations of both built and social environment determinants with self-rated stress. At the individual level few social factors were significant predictors, although neighborhood trust and food insecurity have independent effects on stress. At the neighborhood level, the presence of hazardous waste sites and traffic volume were determinants of self-rated stress even after controlling for other individual characteristics. The latter two factors are of relevance to public health policy as they are potentially modifiable.

Language: en