Who Are the People in your Neighborhood? The Relationship between Neighborhood Ethnic Composition and Individual Health

Amanda L. Roy, New York University
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Harvard University

Research has linked neighborhood ethnic composition to individual physical and mental health outcomes. However, the exploration of multi-ethnic group differences, the influence of immigrant status, and the testing of curvilinear relationships has largely been ignored. This research attempts to address these gaps by examining the linear and curvilinear relationships between neighborhood ethnic congruence and physical and mental health outcomes using an ethnically diverse, largely immigrant sample. Data for this study come from The Survey of Minority Groups, a study of midlife development in the United States (MIDUS). Results suggest that the relationship between neighborhood ethnic congruence and health outcomes does vary across ethnic groups. In general, Dominicans have better health outcomes when they live in ethnically congruent neighborhoods while Puerto Ricans have better outcomes when they live in ethnically incongruent neighborhoods. For Mexicans, there is a curvilinear relationship that indicates worse outcomes when ethnic congruence is high or low.