Residential segregation is an example of the long history of structural racism in the United States. Black Americans are more likely to live in low-quality neighborhoods, which contributes to disparities in health outcomes. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at how community stress affects the mental and emotional health of Black men and women in the U.
S. "Community stress refers to the effects of living in disadvantaged areas. This includes objective aspects, such as buildings in disrepair and lower median income.
There is also a subjective aspect—do I feel safe and comfortable where I am living? "We were interested in seeing how both aspects are related to mental and emotional health for Black Americans, and whether there are differences for men and women," said lead author August Jenkins, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at Illinois. Jenkins and her colleagues analyzed data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, a longitudinal study of health and aging that includes assessments of psychological and neighborhood factors. They drew on data from MIDUS' third wave, collected in 2013–2015, which included a sample of Black Americans from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The study measured objective neighborhood quality with the Area Deprivation Index, which includes rankings based on indicators related .