Neighborhoods, Social Relationships and Health

Joongbaeck Kim, University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Using the first two waves of Americans' Changing Lives panel data combined by 1980 census information, this study examines whether distinctive types of social relationships account for the association between neighborhood contexts and health outcomes. The process and structure of social relationships may be influenced by resources and conditions in social structures and institutions in neighborhoods. Two research questions are tested: (1) Do social relationships mediate the association between social contexts and health outcomes (Mediation Model), and (2) do social contexts moderate the association between social relationships and health outcomes (Moderation model)? For mediation model, Social relationships account for the associations between the percentage of households receiving public assistance, foreign-born residents, and female-headed households, and depression of the first wave. For moderation model, some of the associations between social relationships and health outcomes are moderated by neighborhood contexts, and the moderating effects vary by the types of social relationships.