Neighborhood poverty and hopelessness in older adults: The mediating role of perceived neighborhood disorder

Yeon Jin Choi, Eun Young Choi and Jennifer A Ailshire

PLOS ONE, 2024, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Hopelessness is one of the strongest predictors of health and mortality, particularly for older populations. Prior research has found associations between individual-level socioeconomic factors and hopelessness, but less is known about the potential importance of neighborhood-level socioeconomic contexts for hopelessness. In particular, the role of neighborhood disorder as a potential explanatory factor for poor psychological well-being remains underexplored. This study investigates whether neighborhood poverty is associated with a sense of hopelessness among older adults and if perceived neighborhood disorder mediates the link between poverty and hopelessness. Individual-level data came from the 2014/2016 Health and Retirement Study and were merged with neighborhood-level poverty data from the 2012–2016 and 2014–2018 American Community Survey. Linear regression models were employed to examine the association between neighborhood poverty, disorder, and hopelessness. Respondents in neighborhoods with higher poverty levels reported a greater sense of hopelessness (b = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.08, 0.15, p

Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0311894

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311894

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