Predictors of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in African American young adolescents.

Background: African American adolescents residing in the South are at increased risk for obesity and physical inactivity, yet our understanding of potential influences is limited.

Purpose: Using an ecological framework, this study explored multilevel predictors (individual, family, home, and neighborhood environment) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among 116 African American adolescents (ages 12-16).

Methods: Adolescents and their parents completed self-report surveys for hypothesized predictors.

Physical impairment is associated with nursing home admission for older adults in disadvantaged but not other neighborhoods: results from the UAB study of aging.

Objectives: Aging adults face an increased risk of adverse health events as well as risk for a decrease in personal competencies across multiple domains. These factors may inhibit the ability of an older adult to age in place and may result in a nursing home admission (NHA). This study combines insights from Lawton's environmental press theory with the neighborhood disadvantage (ND) literature to examine the interaction of the neighborhood environment and individual characteristics on NHA.

A multilevel analysis of individual, household, and neighborhood correlates of intimate partner violence among low-income pregnant women in Jefferson county, Alabama.

Objectives: We examined individual, household, and neighborhood correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) before and during pregnancy.

Methods: We used multilevel modeling to investigate IPV among 2887 pregnant women in 112 census tracts who sought prenatal care in 8 public clinics in Jefferson County, Alabama, from 1997 through 2001. Data were collected from the Perinatal Emphasis Research Center project, the 2000 Census, and the local Sheriff and Police Departments Uniform Crime Reports for 1997 through 2001.

Rising inability to obtain needed health care among homeless persons in Birmingham, Alabama (1995-2005).

Background: Homeless persons depend disproportionately on the health-care safety net for medical services. National reports identify financial strains to this safety net. Whether this has affected homeless persons is unknown.

Social assets and mental distress among the homeless: exploring the roles of social support and other forms of social capital on depression.

This paper explores the role of social capital in mediating the effects of stressors on depression among a disadvantaged population. Utilizing a survey of 155 homeless people in a mid-sized southern U.S.

Perceived neighborhood characteristics and problem behavior among disadvantaged children.

Using survey data from former Head Start children in the third grade from 15 sites across the nation (n = 576), this study examines the relationship between maternal subjective neighborhood attributions and their children's behavioral problems. Maternal perceptions of neighborhood characteristics were measured across five domains, including collective efficacy, barriers to services, negative neighbor affects, probability of child status attainment success, and overall neighborhood rating. Children's problem behaviors, measured with the Social Skills Rating System, includes externalizing and internalizing outcomes.

Depressive symptomatology, exposure to violence, and the role of social capital among African American adolescents.

Focusing on the role of capital as both personal and social resources for adolescents, the authors examined depressive symptomatology among a sample of 10- to 18-year-old African American youths (N=1,538). In addition to gender and age differences, adolescents exposed to threatening environments (school, neighborhood, home) reported more depressive symptoms. Social capital had a significant inverse relationship with adolescent depression; self-esteem and a social capital index were negatively related to depressive symptomatology.