Health and Neighborhood Context: The Reciprocal Relationship between Social Organization and Aggregate Health Status

Kathleen A. Cagney, University of Chicago
Christopher Browning, Ohio State University

Features of neighborhood context are increasingly recognized as independent determinants of health and well-being for urban residents. Studies are now emerging that point to the unique effects of neighborhood measures of social organization on health. To date, no research has simultaneously examined the inverse causal process-i.e., the effect of aggregate neighborhood health status on neighborhood social organization. We use the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1994-95 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods-Community Survey, and the 1991-2000 Metropolitan Chicago Information Center Metro Survey to explore the reciprocal association between neighborhood context and health (N=3,272). We use multilevel latent variable models to simultaneously examine the relationships among 1990 neighborhood structural characteristics, 1991-94 neighborhood health status, 1995 neighborhood social organization, and 1995-99 neighborhood health status. Results indicate that neighborhood health status and social organization are reciprocally related. This investigation will add to our knowledge of the dynamic relationship between neighborhood context and health.