Race/Ethnicity, Built Environment, and Children’s Mental Health in the U.S

• In Event: 2251 - Section on Environmental Sociology Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 9. Environmental inequality 1

Abstract

The prevention and treatment of mental health disorders in childhood and adolescence is one among the major public health challenges in the United States today. Prior research has suggested that neighborhood plays an important role in childhood mental health since neighborhood may reduce or induce psychological distresses for children and adolescents. Our study extends the research on neighborhood and mental health by examining the intersectionality of race, built environment in neighborhood, and children’s mental health in the U.S. Using data from 2016 National Survey of Children Health (NSCH) and multivariate regression, we find that children’s mental health and the neighborhood built environment vary across racial/ethnic groups, with minority groups being more likely to experience mental health disorders and disadvantaged neighborhood. Our study furthers indicates the intersectionality of race/ethnicity, neighborhood built environment and children’s mental health, which suggests the need to help reduce the structural disparities in neighborhood for minority groups, particularly American Indians.

Author

• Yuying Shen, Norfolk State University