Novel Canadian micro-neighborhood crime and safety related stressors: implications for individual safety and mental health
摘要
This study assessed how individuals’ perceived safety and mental health are associated with novel indicators of micro-neighborhood level exposure to crime- and safety-related stressors. Using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, respondents’ (n = 1281) perceived safety and self-reported mental health were predicted based on novel indicators of crime and safety produced for the city of Montreal using data from the General Social Survey and the Canadian Census. These micro-neighborhood level indicators, derived using a regression kriging approach, were validated based on indicators of robustness and convergent validity. Nearly all micro-neighborhood crime-related stressors predicted individual-level perceived safety. Only the probability of exposure to perceived social disorder was associated with individual-level self-reported mental health. The estimates of neighborhood exposure were most robust for perceived social disorder, perceived community hospitability, and experiences of violent victimization. Estimated experiences of household victimization, experiences of discrimination, perceived insecurity, and contact with the police were less robust. Micro-neighborhood level exposures to a host of crime- and safety-related stressors are associated with individuals’ perceived safety and mental health, suggesting that a refined scale of analysis and broader scope of the conceptualization of crime and safety stressors is necessary when measuring mental health outcomes.