Week 7 - Neighbourhood and community

Recap of Last Week

  • Focused on social determinants of mental health
    • Social determinants: Refers to social, economic, and physical circumstances that can be harmful or protective.
    • Not limited to individuals; can be at a wider societal level.
  • Economic Inequality factors:
    • Household income
    • Income inequality
    • Food insecurity
    • Employment opportunities
    • Education levels

Course Information

  • Course Code: PY0549
  • Instructor: Dr. Alyson Dodd

Lecture Structure

  • Topics covered include:
    • Housing
    • Urban living
      • Characteristics of neighborhoods, including:
      • Green and blue spaces
      • Noise pollution
    • Rural living

Mental Health Inequalities

  • Factors that contribute to mental health inequalities:
    1. Economic Influences
    2. Relational Influences
    3. Health, Disability, and Ageing Influences
    4. Environmental Influences

Inadequate Housing Criteria

  • Factors detailing inadequate housing include:
    • Building Condition: Heating, lighting, dampness, leaks, and overall structure
    • Cleanliness: Maintenance and sanitation of living conditions
    • Space: Size and composition of living area
    • Safety: Safety measures in place for residents
    • Outdoor Views and Space: Access to and the quality of outside views and outdoor space

Housing and Psychopathology

  • Research findings state poor housing is linked to various psychopathologies, including:
    • Mental Health Disorders:
    • Depression and anxiety
    • Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
    • Various dimensional symptoms and diagnoses
  • Significance of time spent in these environments highlighted:
    • Referenced COVID-19 research from:
    • Amerio et al., 2020
    • Mitchell et al., 2025
    • Pevalin et al., 2017
    • Singh et al., 2019

Characteristics of Housing and Psychopathology

  • Cumulative Impact: Effects persist over time and are observed throughout an individual’s lifespan.
  • Bidirectional Relationship: The interaction between social drift (where individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds move to lower-quality neighborhoods) versus social causation (where poor living conditions contribute to psychopathological states).

Methodological Considerations in Research

  • Need to control for confounding factors such as:
    • Socioeconomic status
    • Self-report biases which could skew data
    • High-income country bias affecting results

Impact of Housing Over Time

  • Incorporates dimensions of childhood residential mobility that may lead to:
    • Dimensional psychopathology
    • Multiple diagnoses emerging as individuals transition from adolescence to adulthood
  • Emphasis on the cumulative effects beyond just poverty or income levels, urbanization, etc.

Importance of Location

  • Urbanicity: Noting that more than half of the population globally resides in cities, with implications for mental health conditions increasing alongside this trend.
    • Urbanicity extends beyond simple population density; it serves as a proxy for interaction of various risk and protective factors.
  • Cited relevant study: Van der Wal et al., 2021.

Urban Risk and Protective Factors

  • Urban Risk Factors include:

    • Economic inequalities
    • Neighborhood crime and disorder
    • Population density
    • Pollution (e.g., noise, lack of green and blue spaces)

  • Urban Protective Factors include:

    • Economic opportunities
    • Social cohesion and control
    • Available services and resources (e.g., parks, healthcare, transport)

Urbanicity and Psychopathology

  • Observed associations between urban living and:
    • Psychosis
    • Depression and anxiety
  • Not solely dependent on measures of population density or urban-rural division.

Neighborhood Social Characteristics and Mental Health

  • Notable effects of neighborhood social characteristics on various psychopathologies:
    • Emotional and behavioral difficulties
    • Early cognitive ability
    • Disorders such as psychosis, depression, and anxiety across populations from children to adults, with references to studies by:
    • Donnelly et al., 2016
    • Francesconi et al., 2022
    • Newbury et al., 2016
    • Piccirillo et al., 2019

Contributing Factors Beyond Neighborhoods

  • Impact of neighborhood characteristics beyond deprivation, housing, urbanicity, etc.

Green and Blue Space

  • Definition:

    • Green Space:
    • Open lands, grass, trees, parks, gardens, woodlands
    • Can be either managed or natural
    • Blue Space:
    • Refers to water bodies; natural or man-made

  • Psychopathological Protection:

    • Emerging evidence indicates the protective quality of green and blue spaces against:
    • Depression
    • Anxiety
    • Schizophrenia
    • ADHD
    • Dimensional psychopathology
    • Significant studies include:
    • Francesconi et al., 2022
    • Rautio et al., 2018
    • Shaughnessy et al., 2025
    • Zhang et al., 2024

Rural Areas: Challenges and Opportunities

  • Discussion surrounding the urban vs rural divide indicates:
    • Mixed findings where poor mental health is prevalent in some rural areas
    • Notable challenges identified include:
    • Economic opportunities
    • Housing affordability
    • Social isolation
    • Land conditions
    • Extreme weather events
    • Limited access to services (cited research by Evans et al., 2018; Forrest et al., Newbury et al., 2016)

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  • Early onset of conditions beginning in childhood,
    • Less attention in research regarding social determinants:
    • Focus often on genetic or biological causes
    • Limited examination of toxins and other environmental factors
    • Presence of evidence suggesting that:
    • Early emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development may be impacted
    • This includes evidence linking to diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders (reflected in studies by Francesconi et al., 2022; Mitchell et al., 2025; Santiago et al., 2021)

Mechanisms of Influence

  • Discussed lack of established mechanisms detailing causal pathways linking living conditions to psychopathology, including:
    • Neurobiological mechanisms
    • Psychological factors
    • Social aspects such as isolation and disrupted networks
    • Relationship difficulties and access to protective factors
    • Intergenerational transmission of mental health issues
    • Clustering of social determinants

Risk Factors Associated with Neighborhoods

  • Additional risk factors linked to housing and neighborhood/community contexts include:
    • Homelessness
    • Noise and light pollution
    • Climate change
    • Natural disasters
    • Environmental quality where we work and study
    • Commute conditions

Connection with Previous Lecture Material

  • Acknowledgment of research on links between the built environment and cognitive abilities, including studies by:
    • Francesconi et al., confirmed the nuances of neighborhood disorder affecting children’s emotional health and cognitive trajectory.(Journal of Environmental Psychology)

Summary of Key Takeaways

  • Notable risk for psychopathology is greater in relation to:
    • Housing conditions
    • Urban living contexts
    • Highlighting that links with urbanicity extend past mere population density to include neighborhood characteristics and access to green/blue spaces.
  • Stress the importance of safe and cohesive neighborhoods, as well as unique factors present in rural settings.

Exam Question Example

  • An example question based on the material:
    • "Since being a teenager, Fiona has experienced low mood and anxiety. Raised in a low-income urban neighborhood with high crime rates. Using relevant theories, discuss her risk factors, evidence supporting these factors, further inequalities, and protective characteristics."

Core Reading List

Essential Reads:

  • Newbury, J., et al. (2016). Findings on increased risk for psychotic symptoms in urban neighborhoods.
  • Pevalin, D. J., et al. (2017). Relationship between persistent poor housing conditions and mental health.

Recommended Reads:

  • Donnelly, L., et al. (2016). Connection between cohesive neighborhoods and adolescent mental health.
  • Francesconi, M., et al. (2022). Built environment's effect on childhood cognitive ability and mental health.

Further Articles:

  • Mitchell, J. E., et al. (2025). Review on mental health impact of adverse housing conditions on children.
  • Shaughnessy, S., et al. (2025). Longitudinal effects of environmental spaces on adolescent mental health.

References

  • Amerio et al. (2020). Impact of housing environment on mental health during COVID-19 lockdowns.
  • Batterham et al. (2022). Review of rural mental health environmental assessments.
  • Evans et al. (2018). Urbanicity's association with behavioral problems.
  • Henkens et al. (2024). Effects of residential mobility on adolescent mental health.
  • Mental Health Foundation (2020). Strategies to address social inequalities affecting mental health.