Sense of neighborhood belonging and health: geographic, racial, and socioeconomic variation in Wisconsin.

Front Public Health

Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.

Published: April 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • * Analysis conducted using data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin indicated that a stronger SoB is correlated with better physical, mental, and overall health, with notable differences among racial and geographic groups.
  • * The study highlights that while white participants reported a higher SoB, the strong link between SoB and mental health was found primarily in participants of color and those living in urban areas, suggesting critical disparities regarding community benefits.

Article Abstract

Background: Individuals' sense of belonging (SoB) to their neighborhood is an understudied psychosocial factor that may influence the association between neighborhood characteristics, health, and disparities across socio-demographic groups.

Methods: Using 2014-2016 data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW,  = 1,706), we conduct a detailed analysis of SoB and health in an American context. We construct OLS and logistic regressions estimating belonging's association with general, physical, and mental health. We explore geographic, racial, and socioeconomic variation to understand both the differential distribution of SoB and its heterogeneous relationship with health.

Results: A higher SoB is positively associated with better physical, mental, and general health. White participants report higher SoB than Black participants, yet the association between SoB and mental health is strongest among participants of color and urban residents.

Conclusion: Sense of belonging to neighborhood significantly predicts many facets of health, with place and individual characteristics appearing to moderate this relationship. Racial, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities in belonging-health associations raise important questions about who benefits from the social, economic, and physical aspects of local communities.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11047775PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1376672DOI Listing

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