Neighborhood characteristics and depressive symptoms in an older population

We explored relationships between depressive symptoms and neighborhood environment measures including traffic safety, crime, social capital, and density of businesses in community-dwelling older adults from four different regions of the United States.

The Healthy Aging Research Network walking study is a cross-sectional study of 884 adults aged 65+, which included a 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale of depressive symptoms, demographics, self-reported neighborhood perceptions, and objective neighborhood data.

After adjusting for individual covariates, reports of neighborhood crime, unsafe traffic, and unwillingness of neighbors to help each other were significantly positively associated with depressive symptoms among participants.

This research suggests an association between self-reported depressive symptoms and the social and built environment; examining causal association requires additional longitudinal research in diverse populations of older adults.