Residential Greenspace and Urban Adolescent Substance Use: Exploring Interactive Effects with Peer Network Health, Sex, and Executive Function

Jeremy Mennis, Xiaojiang Li, Mahbubur Meenar, J. Douglas Coatsworth, Thomas P. McKeon and Michael J. Mason
Additional contact information
Jeremy Mennis: Department of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
Xiaojiang Li: Department of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
Mahbubur Meenar: Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028, USA
J. Douglas Coatsworth: Center for Behavioral Health Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Thomas P. McKeon: Department of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
Michael J. Mason: Center for Behavioral Health Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: While urban greenspace is increasingly recognized as important to mental health, its role in substance use is understudied. This exploratory study investigates the interaction of greenspace with peer network health, sex, and executive function (EF) in models of substance use among a sample of disadvantaged, urban youth. Adolescents and their parents were recruited from a hospital in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Residential greenspace at the streetscape level was derived from analysis of Google Street View imagery. Logistic regression models were used to test the moderating effect of greenspace on the association between peer network health and substance use, as well as additional moderating effects of sex and EF. The significant negative association of peer network health with substance use occurred only among youth residing in high greenspace environments, a moderating effect which was stronger among youth with high EF deficit. The moderating effect of greenspace did not differ between girls and boys. Greenspace may play an important role in moderating peer influences on substance use among disadvantaged, urban adolescents, and such moderation may differ according to an individual’s level of EF. This research provides evidence of differences in environmental susceptibility regarding contextual mechanisms of substance use among youth, and it informs the development of targeted substance use interventions that leverage social and environmental influences on adolescent substance use.

Keywords: greenspace; mental health; substance use; peers; executive function; environmental susceptibility; differential susceptibility; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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