Neighborhood Safety, Social Cohesion, and Psychological Well-Being of Older Adults

Background & Purpose:

Neighborhood environment has received increasing attention as a key predictor of successful aging given the growing number of older adults in communities and their preference to age-in-place. However, to our understanding, no studies have analyzed the interactive effects of neighborhood safety and social cohesion on older adults’ psychological well-being. Also, only a few studies explore the effect of physical functioning as a moderator of the relationship between neighborhood environments and well-being and none have specifically focused on psychological well-being as the outcome. Therefore, we aimed to investigate 1) the relationship between neighborhood environment, specifically neighborhood safety and social cohesion, and psychological well-being of older adults, 2) the effect of social cohesion as a buffer of the effect of an unsafe neighborhood on psychological well-being, and 3) differences in these relationships by respondents’ physical functioning.

Methods:

This study used data from the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). As the largest state health survey in the US, CHIS has collected health related information from more than 55,000 randomly-selected households in California since 2001. Among the 2011-2012 CHIS sample, a total of 13,897 community-dwelling older adults (aged ) comprised the subsample for this study.

The dependent variable examined in this study is psychological well-being, which was measured using the Kessler 6 scale. Independent variables include neighborhood safety and social cohesion. To test Lawton’s Press-Competence Model, physical functioning of respondents was also included.

Demographic covariates included age, gender, race, place of birth, marital status, educational attainment, and poverty. Type of neighborhood and duration of residence were also included based on empirical evidence supporting an association between the two variables and older adults’ psychological well-being.

Hypotheses are tested using weighted moderated OLS regression analysis.

Results:

Neighborhood safety was significantly associated with psychological well-being regardless of respondents’ physical functioning. Among those with physical limitations, those who live in unsafe neighborhoods had significantly lower levels of psychological well-being than those who live in safe neighborhoods. Social cohesion, however, was only significantly related to psychological well-being among those with functional limitations. Among physically impaired respondents, social cohesion buffered the ill-effect of an unsafe neighborhood on psychological well-being. When social cohesion was perceived to be high, older adults with physical limitations’ psychological well-being levels rose to levels similar to those of older adults with physical limitations living in safe neighborhoods.

Conclusions & Implications:

These findings suggest that efforts to promote neighborhood safety and social cohesion are essential to the well-being of older adults. Especially, building social cohesion in disadvantaged neighborhoods can serve as a protective factor against psychological distress among older adults with functional impairments who are aging-in-place. We know that aging-in-place is only a sustainable, cost-effective model if the supports are in place to optimize the home environment for older adults, so working to increase social cohesion may be an important way to mitigate the negative impact of neighborhood environments on those aging-in-place. Therefore, practitioners and policymakers should consider neighborhood characteristics more seriously when they develop interventions and policies for older adults with functional limitations.