We report on the development and validation of a neighbourhood measure of social fragmentation. Firstly, we developed a theoretical model of neighbourhood-level social fragmentation, as the structural antecedent to collective social functioning, with three domains (attachment, resources, and means of sharing of norms and values). Secondly, utilising the New Zealand 1996 and 2001 Censuses, variables were constructed to create the New Zealand Index of Neighbourhood Social Fragmentation (NeighFrag) at the small-area level. Nine census variables contributed substantively to a principal components analysis: homeownership, mobility, marital status, nonfamily households, single-person households, children, immigrants, non-English/Māori speakers, and long-term residents. Thirdly, relationships between NeighFrag and other contextual measures were examined, as well as its relationship with individual perceptions of neighbourhood cohesion. The NeighFrag index had a moderate association with deprivation and social capital. It was inversely associated with individual perception of neighbourhood cohesion in multilevel analyses, after adjusting for individual factors and neighbourhood deprivation. Combined, this suggests that NeighFrag provides a meaningful national-level index of neighbourhood social environments for use in analyses.
AllardyceJGilmourHAtkinsonJRapsonTBishopJMcCreadieR G, 2005, “Social fragmentation, deprivation and urbanicity: relation to first-admission rates for psychoses”British Journal of Psychiatry187401–406
2.
ArmitagePColtonT, 1998Encyclopedia of Biostatistics (John Wiley, Chichester, Sussex)
3.
BaumFPalmerC, 2002, “‘Opportunity structures’: urban landscape, social capital and health promotion in Australia”Health Promotion International17351–361
4.
BerkmanL FGlassT, 2000, “Social integration, social networks, social support, and health”, in Social Epidemiology Eds BerkmanL FKawachiI (Oxford University Press, New York) pp 137–173
5.
BerkmanL FGlassTBrissetteISeemanT E, 2000, “From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium”Social Science and Medicine51843–857
6.
BlakelyTAtkinsonJIvoryVCollingsSWiltonJHowden-ChapmanP, 2006, “No association of neighbourhood volunteerism with mortality in New Zealand: a national multilevel cohort study”International Journal of Epidemiology35981–989
7.
CarpianoR M, 2006, “Toward a neighborhood resource-based theory of social capital for health: can Bourdieu and sociology help?”Social Science and Medicine62165–175
8.
CaughyM OO'CampoP JMuntanerC, 2003, “When being alone might be better: neighborhood poverty, social capital, and child mental health”Social Science and Medicine57227–237
9.
CollingsS CIvoryVBlakelyTAtkinsonJ, 2009, “Are neighbourhood social fragmentation and suicide associated in New Zealand? A national multilevel cohort study”Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health631035–1042
10.
CongdonP, 1996, “Suicide and parasuicide in London: a small-area study”Urban Studies33137–158
11.
CongdonP, 2004, “Commentary: contextual effects: index construction and technique”International Journal of Epidemiology33741–742
12.
CorcoranPArensmanEPerryI J, 2007, “The area-level association between hospital-treated deliberate self-harm, deprivation and social fragmentation in Ireland”Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health611050–1055
13.
CurtisSCopelandAFaggJCongdonPAlmogMFitzpatrickJ, 2006, “The ecological relationship between deprivation, social isolation and rates of hospital admission for acute psychiatric care: a comparison of London and New York City”Health and Place1219–37
14.
DeVellisR F, 2003Scale Development: Theory and Applications (Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA)
15.
Diez RouxA V, 2008, “Next steps in understanding the multilevel determinants of health”Journal of Epidemiological Community Health62957–959
16.
DrukkerMvan OsJ, 2003, “Mediators of neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation and quality of life”Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology38698–706
17.
DrukkerMDriessenGKrabbendamLvan OsJ, 2004, “The wider social environment and mental health service use”Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica110119–129
18.
DurkheimE, 1951Suicide: A Study in Sociology (Free Press, New York)
19.
EvansJMiddletonNGunnellD, 2004, “Social fragmentation, severe mental illness and suicide”Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology39165–170
20.
FaggJCurtisSStansfeldSCongdonP, 2006, “Psychological distress among adolescents, and its relationship to individual, family and area characteristics in East London”Social Science and Medicine63636–648
21.
FaggJCurtisSStansfeldS ACattellVTupuolaA MArephinM, 2008, “Area social fragmentation, social support for individuals and psychosocial health in young adults: evidence from a national survey in England”Social Science and Medicine66242–254
22.
FlowerdewRManleyD JSabelC E, 2008, “Neighbourhood effects on health: does it matter where you draw the boundaries?”Social Science and Medicine661241–1255
23.
FoneDDunstanFLloydKWilliamsGWatkinsJPalmerS, 2007, “Does social cohesion modify the association between area income deprivation and mental health? A multilevel analysis”International Journal of Epidemiology36338–345
24.
ForrestRKearnsA, 2001, “Social cohesion, social capital and the neighbourhood”Urban Studies382125–2143
25.
FranziniLSpearsW, 2003, “Contributions of social context to inequalities in years of life lost to heart disease in Texas, USA”Social Science and Medicine571847–1861
26.
FrohlichK LDunnJ RMcLarenLShiellAPotvinLHawePDassaCThurstonW E, 2007, “Understanding place and health: a heuristic for using administrative data”Health and Place13299–309
27.
FulliloveM THeonVJimenezWParsonsCGreenL LFulliloveR E, 1998, “Injury and anomie: effects of violence on an inner-city community”American Journal of Public Health88924–927
28.
GerstelNGallagherS, 1994, “Caring for kith and kin–gender, employment, and the privatization of care”Social Problems41519–539
29.
GleesonBHayCLawR, 1998, “The geography of mental health in Dunedin, New Zealand”Health and Place41–14
30.
GunnellDShepherdMEvansM, 2000, “Are recent increases in deliberate self-harm associated with changes in socio-economic conditions? An ecological analysis of patterns of deliberate self-harm in Bristol 1972–3 and 1995–6”Psychological Medicine301197–1203
31.
HippJ R, 2010, “Micro-structure in micro-neighborhoods: a new social distance measure, and its effect on individual and aggregated perceptions of crime and disorder”Social Networks32148–159
32.
HookJ L, 2004, “Reconsidering the division of household labor: incorporating volunteer work and informal support”Journal of Marriage and the Family66101–117
33.
IvoryV CCollingsS CBlakelyTDewK, 2011, “When does neighbourhood matter? Multilevel relationships between neighbourhood social fragmentation and mental health”Social Science and Medicine721993–2002
34.
JensenJ, 1978, “Minimum income levels and income equivalence scales”, Department of Social Welfare, Wellington
35.
JensenJ, 1988, “Income equivalences and the selection of family expenditures on children”, Department of Social Welfare, Wellington
36.
KawachiISubramanianS VKimD, 2008, “Social capital and health: a decade of progress and beyond”, in Social Capital and Health Eds KawachiISubramanianS VKimD (Springer, New York) pp 1–26
37.
KushnerH ISterkC E, 2005, “The limits of social capital: Durkheim, suicide, and social cohesion”American Journal of Public Health951139–1143
38.
LaflammeLReimersA, 2006, “Neighborhood social characteristics and fall injuries in children: an area-based study in Stockholm County”Sozial- und Präventivmedizin51355–362
39.
LindstromMMerloJOstergrenP O, 2002, “Individual and neighbourhood determinants of social participation and social capital: a multilevel analysis of the city of Malmo, Sweden”Social Science and Medicine541779–1791
40.
LindstromMMoghaddassiMBolinKLindgrenBMerloJ, 2003, “Social participation, social capital and daily tobacco smoking: a population-based multilevel analysis in Malmo, Sweden”Scandinavian Journal of Public Health31444–450
41.
MacintyreSEllawayACumminsS, 2002, “Place effects on health: how can we conceptualise, operationalise and measure them?”Social Science and Medicine55125–139
42.
McPhersonM, 2004, “Cohort vulnerability to lack of extended family support: the implications for social policy”Social Policy Journal of New Zealand21160–177
43.
MartikainenPKauppinenT MValkonenT, 2003, “Effects of the characteristics of neighbourhoods and the characteristics of people on cause specific mortality: a register based follow up study of 252,000 men”Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health57210–217
44.
MiddletonNWhitleyEFrankelSDorlingDSterneJGunnellD, 2004, “Suicide risk in small areas in England and Wales, 1991–1993”Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology3945–52
45.
NomaguchiK MMilkieM A, 2003, “Costs and rewards of children: the effects of becoming a parent on adults' lives”Journal of Marriage and the Family65356–374
46.
O'ReillyDRosatoMConnollySCardwellC, 2008, “Area factors and suicide: 5-year follow-up of the Northern Ireland population”British Journal of Psychiatry192106–111
47.
ParkesAKearnsA, 2006, “The multi-dimensional neighbourhood and health: a cross-sectional analysis of the Scottish Household Survey, 2001”Health and Place121–18
48.
SalmondCCramptonP, 2002, “NZDep2001 Index of Deprivation”, Ministry of Health, Wellington
49.
SampsonR JGrovesW B, 1989, “Community structure and crime: testing social-disorganization theory”The American Journal of Sociology94774–802
50.
SampsonR JRaudenbushS W, 1999, “Systematic social observation of public spaces: a new look at disorder in urban neighborhoods”American Journal of Sociology105603–651
51.
SampsonR JRaudenbushS WEarlsF, 1997, “Neighborhoods and violent crime—a multilevel study of collective efficacy”Science277918–924
52.
SampsonR JMorenoffJ DEarlsF, 1999, “Beyond social capital: spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children”American Sociological Review64633–660
53.
StaffordMDe SilvaMStansfeldSMarmotM, 2008a, “Neighbourhood social capital and common mental disorder: testing the link in a general population sample”Health and Place14394–405
54.
StaffordMGimenoDMarmotM G, 2008b, “Neighbourhood characteristics and trajectories of health functioning: a multilevel prospective analysis”European Journal Public Health18604–610
StjarneM Kde LeonA PHallqvistJ, 2004, “Contextual effects of social fragmentation and material deprivation on risk of myocardial infarction—results from the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP)”International Journal of Epidemiology33732–741
57.
TaylorSAshworthC, 1987, “Durkheim and social realism: an approach to health and illness”, in Sociological Theory and Medical Sociology Ed. ScramblerG (Tavistock, Andover, Hants) pp 37–58
58.
TuckmanB, 1988Conducting Educational Research (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego, CA)
59.
WhitleyEGunnellDDorlingDSmithG D, 1999, “Ecological study of social fragmentation, poverty, and suicide”British Medical Journal3191034–1037
60.
WilsonJMusickM, 1998, “The contribution of social resources to volunteering”Social Science Quarterly79799–814
