Neighborhood Safety and Perinatal Mental Health

Abstract

Neighborhood safety (NS) has important implications for mental health, yet research is needed to clarify how different constructs that measure NS associate with mental health problems. Research is particularly underdeveloped on NS among low-income, postpartum individuals, who may experience greater vulnerability. This study examined two measures of NS, self-reported and coder-rated, and their associations with prenatal and postnatal depression and PTSD symptoms, and lifetime adversity. Participants were 121 perinatal individuals living in a major metro area. Both types of NS were significantly intercorrelated. Neither prenatal nor postnatal depression symptoms predicted self-reported or coder-rated NS. However, higher lifetime adversity and higher postnatal PTSD symptoms predicted lower self-reported postnatal NS (but not coder-rated NS). After controlling for prenatal PTSD symptoms, lower self-reported NS also predicted higher postnatal PTSD symptoms. Findings underscore the importance of focusing on individuals’ lived experiences in their neighborhoods to understand links between perceptions of NS and PTSD symptoms.

Keywords

neighborhood safety depression PTSD pregnancy postpartum

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aisenberg

Ayon

Orozco-Figueroa

(2008). The role of adolescents’ perception in understanding the severity of exposure to community violence and PTSD. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(11), 1555–1578. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260508314318

Aisenberg

Herrenkohl

(2008). Community violence in context: Risk and resilience in children and families. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(3), 296–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507312287

Barcelona de Mendoza

Harville

E. W.

Savage

Giarratano

(2018). Experiences of intimate partner and neighborhood violence and their association with mental health in pregnant women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(6), 938–959. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515613346

Blevins

C. A.

Weathers

F. W.

Davis

M. T.

Witte

T. K.

Domino

J. L.

(2015). The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM–5 (PCL-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28, 489–498. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22059

Bovin

M. J.

Marx

B. P.

Weathers

F. W.

Gallagher

M. W.

Rodriguez

Schnurr

P. P.

Keane

T. M.

(2016). Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in veterans. Psychological Assessment, 28(11), 1379–1391. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000254

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

Cox

J. L.

Holden

J. M.

Sagovsky

(1987). Detection of postnatal depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, 150, 782–786. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.150.6.782

Davis

Narayan

(2020). Pregnancy as a period of risk, adaptation, and resilience for mothers and infants. Development and Psychopathology, 32(5), 1625–1639. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420001121

De Wet

Somefun

Rambau

(2018). Perceptions of community safety and social activity participation among youth in South Africa. PLoS ONE, 13(5), e0197549. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197549

10.

Earls

M. F.

(2010). Committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, American Academy of Pediatrics. Incorporating recognition and management of perinatal and postpartum depression into pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 126, 1032–1039. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-2348

11.

Ehlers

Clark

D. M.

(2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00123-0

12.

Fedina

Mushonga

Bessaha

M. L.

Jun

Narita

DeVylder

(2021). Moderating effects of perceived neighborhood factors on intimate partner violence, psychological distress, and suicide risk. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(21–22), 10546–10563. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519884687

13.

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

Nordenberg

Williamson

D. F.

Spitz

A. M.

Edwards

Koss

M. P.

Marks

J. S.

(1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8

14.

Furstenberg

F. F.

Jr. Hughes

M. E.

(1995). Social capital and successful development among at-risk youth. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 580–592. https://doi.org/10.2307/353914

15.

Gapen

Cross

Ortigo

Graham

Johnson

Evces

Ressler

Bradley

(2011). Perceived neighborhood disorder, community cohesion, and PTSD symptoms among low-income African Americans in an urban health setting. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01069.x

16.

Gaylord-Harden

N. K.

Bai

G. J.

Simic

(2017). Examining a dual-process model of desensitization and hypersensitization to community violence in African American male adolescents. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30, 463–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22220

17.

Gaylord-Harden

N. K.

Henry

D. B.

Tolan

P. H.

(2017). Examining the pathologic adaptation model of community violence exposure in male adolescents of color. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 46(1), 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1204925

18.

Hill

N. E.

Herman-Stahl

M. A.

(2002). Neighborhood safety and social involvement. Journal of Family Psychology, 16(2), 209–219. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.16.2.209

19.

Hsu

H.-T.

Simon

J. D.

Henwood

B. F.

Wenzel

S. L.

Couture

(2016). Location, location, location: Perceptions of safety and security among formerly homeless persons transitioned to permanent supportive housing. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 7(1), 65–88. https://doi.org/10.1086/685034

20.

Johansen

Neal

Gasteyer

(2015). The view from a broken window: How residents make sense of neighbourhood disorder in Flint. Urban Studies, 52(16), 3054–3069. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014552768

21.

Kim

Lee

Jung

Jaime

Cubbin

(2018). Is neighborhood poverty harmful to every child? Neighborhood poverty, family poverty, and behavioral problems among young children. Journal of Community Psychology, 9(47), 594–610. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22140

22.

Leventhal

Brooks-Gunn

(2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309

23.

Mair

Roux

Diez

Galea

(2008). Are neighbourhood characteristics associated with depressive symptoms? A review of evidence. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62(11), 940–946. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2007.066605

24.

McDonell

J. R.

Sianko

(2021). Neighborhood, neighborliness, and family and child well-being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(3), 310–321. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000496

25.

Narayan

A. J.

Atzl

V. M.

Merrick

J. S.

River

L. M.

Peña

(2019). Therapeutic perinatal research with low-income families: Leveraging Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) and fathers’ perspectives to promote resilience. Zero to Three Journal, 39, 43–53.

26.

Narayan

A. J.

Rivera

L. M.

Bernstein

R. E.

Castro

Gantt

Thomas

Nau

Harris

W. W.

Lieberman

A. F.

(2017). Between pregnancy and motherhood: Identifying unmet mental health needs in pregnant women with lifetime adversity. Zero to Three Journal, 37, 4–13.

27.

National Center for PTSD. (2016). PTSD Checklist for DSM–5 (PCL-5). https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/assessment/adult-sr/ptsd-checklist.asp#obtain

28.

Nieuwenhuis

Hooimeijer

(2016) The association between neighbourhoods and educational achievement, a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 31(2), 321–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-015-9460-7

29.

Overstreet

Braun

(2000). Exposure to community violence and post-traumatic stress symptoms: Mediating factors. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(2), 263–271. https://doi-org.du.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/h0087828

30.

Shannon

M. M.

Clougherty

J. E.

McCarthy

Elovitz

M. A.

Nguemeni Tiako

M. J.

Melly

S. J.

Burris

H. H.

(2020). Neighborhood violent crime and perceived stress in pregnancy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15), 5585. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155585

31.

Surbey

(2011). Adaptive significance of low levels of self-deception and cooperation in depression. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32, 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.08.009

32.

Raman

Bonanno

P. A.

Sachdev

Govindan

Dhole

Salako

Patel

Noureddine

L. R.

Guevarra-Fernández

Leto

Nemeh

Patel

Nicheporuck

Tran

Kennedy

C. A.

(2021). Community violence, PTSD, hopelessness, substance use, and perpetuation of violence in an urban environment. Community Mental Health Journal, 57(4), 622–630. https://doi-org.du.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00691-8

33.

Sun

Crooks

DiClemente

R. J.

Sales

J. M.

(2020). Perceived neighborhood violence and crime, emotion regulation, and PTSD symptoms among justice-involved, urban African-American adolescent girls. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(6), 593–598. https://doi-org.du.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/tra0000562.supp

34.

Thurston

Bell

J. F.

Induni

(2018). Community-level adverse experiences and emotional regulation in children and adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 42, 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2018.06.008

35.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). Residence 1 year ago/migration. https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/migration/

36.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). 2017 poverty guidelines. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines/prior-hhs-poverty-guidelines-federal-register-references/2017-poverty-guidelines

37.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019). 2018 poverty guidelines. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines/prior-hhs-poverty-guidelines-federal-register-references/2018-poverty-guidelines

38.

Vogel

Porter

L. C.

McCuddy

(2017). Hypermobility, destination effects, and delinquency: Specifying the link between residential mobility and offending. Social Forces, 95(31), 1261–1284. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sow097

39.

Weathers

F. W.

Litz

B.T.

Keane

T. M.

Palmieri

P. A.

Marx

B. P.

Schnurr

P. P.

(2013). The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Scale available from the National Center for PTSD at www.ptsd.va.gov.

40.

Wilson-Doenges

(2000). An exploration of sense of community and fear of crime in gated communities. Environment and Behavior, 23(5), 597–611. https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160021972694

41.

Wilson-Genderson

Pruchno

(2013). Effects of neighborhood violence and perceptions of neighborhood safety on depressive symptoms of older adults. Social Science & Medicine, 85, 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.02.028

42.

Zuberi

(2018). Feeling safe in a dangerous place: Exploring the neighborhood safety perceptions of low-income African American youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 33(1), 90–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558416684948