Neighborhood Context, Divine Struggles, and Psychological Distress

Although researchers have consistently linked structural neighborhood disadvantage with poorer mental health, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In this paper, we test whether the association between structural neighborhood disadvantage and psychological distress is mediated by perceived neighborhood disorder and divine struggles. Using longitudinal national survey data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2 and 3) study (n = 2,083), we employed structural equation modeling and marginal models with unstructured covariances. Our mediation analysis confirmed the indirect effect of neighborhood structural disadvantage (concentrated socioeconomic disadvantage) on psychological distress (depression and anxiety) through perceived neighborhood disorder (perceptions of neighborhood safety and the built environment) and divine struggles (strained relations with God). Our results build on previous work by demonstrating that divine struggles may play a role in explaining why living in a neighborhood that is characterized by structural disadvantage and disorder is often associated with poorer mental health.