Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Neighborhood Social Integration and Psychological Well-Being Among African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans

  • Published:
Race and Social Problems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using the National Survey of American Life, this study examines the impact of neighborhood social integration (i.e., contact with neighbors, participation in neighborhood organizations) on mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, life satisfaction), and the extent to which these associations vary between African Americans (N = 3191) and Afro-Caribbeans (N = 1416). Results reveal that contact with neighbors was associated with greater life satisfaction for both African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. However, for depressive symptoms, the two groups diverged. Among African Americans, neighbor contact was also associated with fewer depressive symptoms. However, for Afro-Caribbeans, participation in neighborhood groups was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Thus, it appears that participation in neighborhood organizations is particularly salubrious for Afro-Caribbeans, while frequent contact with neighbors is health-protective for African Americans. This study contributes to a growing literature elucidating how ethnicity shapes the social experiences and psychological well-being of black Americans. In addition, these findings suggest that the neighborhood is a key socio-spatial context that should be included in the broader literature on social integration and health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In the social support and health literature, social integration is also referred to as “structural support” (Thoits 1995, 2011).

  2. Variables with highest missing cases included depressive symptoms (N = 256), presence of drugs (N = 179), and presence of crime (N = 89). With regards to the social patterning of missingness, individuals with missing cases were more likely to be female, Afro-Caribbean, older, and had relatively lower income compared to those with full data.

  3. We cannot rule out the possibility that some respondents could have classified churches within the neighborhood as a neighborhood organization. Nonetheless, we are unable to ascertain the specific types of neighborhood organizations in which respondents participate. However, the survey includes multiple items regarding church-specific participation, and we controlled for church participation in the analysis.

References

  • Adams, R. E., & Serpe, R. T. (2000). Social integration, fear of crime, and life satisfaction. Sociological Perspectives, 43(4), 605–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahern, J., & Galea, S. (2011). Collective efficacy and major depression in urban neighborhoods. American Journal of Epidemiology, 173(12), 1453–1462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alegría, M., Molina, K. M., & Chen, C. (2014). Neighborhood characteristics and differential risk for depressive and anxiety disorders across racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Depression and Anxiety, 31, 27–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, M., & López, G. (2018). Key facts about black immigrants in the U.S. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/24/key-facts-about-black-immigrants-in-the-u-s/.

  • Assari, S. (2013). Race and ethnicity, religious involvement, church-based social support and subjective health in United States: A case of moderated mediation. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 4(2), 208–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Audebert, C. (2009). Residential patterns and political empowerment among Jamaicans and Haitians in the U.S. metropolis: The role of ethnicity in New York and South Florida. Human Architecture: Journal of Sociology and Self-knowledge, 6, 53–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baffour, K. T., & Boate, K. S. (2006). Location and settlement patterns of African immigrants in the U.S.: Demographic and spatial context. In K. Konadu-Agyemang, K. Takyi Baffour, & J. A. Arthur (Eds.), The new African diaspora in North America: Trends, community building, and adaptation (pp. 50–68). New York: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baptiste, D. A., Hardy, K. V., & Lewis, L. (1997). Family therapy with english Caribbean immigrant families in the United States: Issues of emigration, immigration, culture and race. Contemporary Family Therapy, 19, 337–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basch, L. (1987). The Vincentians and Grenadians: The role of voluntary associations in immigrant adaptation to New York City. In N. Foner (Ed.), New immigrants in New York (pp. 159–194). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bashi, V. F. (2007). Survival of the knitted: Immigrant social networks in a stratified world. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkman, L. F., Glass, T., Brissette, I., & Seeman, T. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51, 843–857.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Browning, C. R., & Cagney, K. A. (2002). Neighborhood structural disadvantage, collective efficacy, and self-rated physical health in an urban setting. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(4), 383–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantor, M. H. (1979). Neighbors and friends: An overlooked resource in the informal support system. Research on Aging, 1, 434–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpiano, R. M. (2006). Towards a neighborhood resource-based theory of social capital for health: Can Bourdieu and sociology help? Social Science & Medicine, 62(1), 165–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpiano, R. M. (2007). Neighborhood social capital and adult health: An empirical test of a Bourdieu-based model. Health & Place, 13(3), 639–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpiano, R. M., & Kimbro, R. T. (2012). Neighborhood social capital, parenting strain, and personal mastery among female primary caregivers of children. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53(2), 232–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charles, C. Z. (2000). Neighborhood racial-composition preferences: Evidence from a multi-ethnic metropolis. Social Problems, 47, 379–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., Bullard, K. M., & Jackson, J. S. (2009). Race and ethnic differences in religious involvement: African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(7), 1143–1163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowder, K. D. (1999). Residential segregation of West Indians in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area: The roles of race and ethnicity. International Migration Review, 33(1), 79–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowder, K. D. (2000). The racial context of white mobility: An individual-level assessment of the white flight hypothesis. Social Science Research, 29, 223–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Graauw, E., Bloemraad, I., & Gleeson, S. (2013). Funding immigrant organizations: Suburban free riding and local civic presence. American Journal of Sociology, 119(1), 75–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Discrimination, M. Forms of exclusion, and inclusionary remedies. Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, 14, 89–124.

  • Ebaugh, H. R., & Curry, M. (2000). Fictive kin as social capital in new immigrant communities. Sociological Perspectives, 43(2), 189–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Echeverría, S., Diez-Roux, A. V., Shea, S., Borrell, L. N., & Jackson, S. (2008). Associations of neighborhood problems and neighborhood social cohesion with mental health and health behaviors: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Health & Place, 14, 853–865.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C. G., Boardman, J. D., Williams, D. R., & Jackson, J. S. (2001). Religious involvement, stress, and mental health: Findings from the 1995 Detroit area study. Social Forces, 80(1), 215–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erving, C. L. (2018). Ethnic and nativity differences in the social support-physical health association among black Americans. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 20(1), 124–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, L. (2002). Does spatial assimilation work for black immigrants in the U.S.? Urban Studies, 39(11), 1983–2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujiwara, T., & Kawachi, I. (2008). A prospective study of individual-level social capital and major depression in the United States. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62, 627–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gary, T. L., Stark, S. A., & LaVeist, T. A. (2007). Neighborhood characteristics and mental health among African Americans and whites living in a racially integrated urban community. Health & Place, 13, 569–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • George, L. K. (1981). Subjective well-being: Conceptual and methodological issues. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2, 345–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, T., Okuda, M., Oquendo, M. A., Lawson, W. B., Wang, S., Thomas, Y. F., & Blanco, C. (2013). Mental health of African Americans and Caribbean blacks in the United States: Results from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. American Journal of Public Health, 103(2), 330–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haines, V. A., Beggs, J. J., & Hurlbert, J. S. (2011). Neighborhood disadvantage, network social capital, and depressive symptoms. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 52(1), 58–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, M. (2013). Residential integration on the new frontier: Immigrant segregation in established and new destinations. Demography, 50, 1873–1896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, T. G., & Hummer, R. A. (2011). Immigration and the health of U.S. black adults: Does country of origin matter? Social Science & Medicine, 73, 1551–1560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, J. F., & Snowden, L. R. (2019). African Americans and Caribbean blacks: Perceived neighborhood disadvantage and depression. Journal of Community Psychology, 47, 227–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heeringa, S. G., Wagner, J., Torres, M., Duan, N., Adams, T., & Berglund, P. (2004). Sample designs and sampling methods for the collaborative psychiatric epidemiology studies (CPES). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 221–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, T. D., & Maimon, D. (2013). Neighborhood context and mental health. In C.S. Aneshensel et al. (Eds.), Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health (2nd ed., pp. 479–501). Dordrecht: Springer Science + Business Media .

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Himle, J. A., Nguyen, A. W., Williams, M. T., Lincoln, K. D., Taylor, K. O., & Chatters, L. M. (2017). Family and friendship networks and obsessive-compulsive disorder among African Americans and black Caribbeans. Behavioral Therapy, 40(3), 99–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Himle, J. A., Taylor, R. J., & Chatters, L. M. (2012). Religious involvement and obsessive compulsive disorder among African Americans and blacks Caribbeans. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 502–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, S., Zhang, W., & Walton, E. (2014). Neighborhoods and mental health: Exploring ethnic density, poverty, and social cohesion among Asian Americans and Latinos. Social Science & Medicine, 111, 117–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ida, A. K., & Christie-Mizell, C. A. (2012). Racial group identity, psychosocial resources, and depressive symptoms: Exploring ethnic heterogeneity among black Americans. Sociological Focus, 45(1), 41–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. S., Neighbors, H. W., Nesse, R. M., Trierweiler, S. J., & Torres, M. (2004). Methodological innovations in the National Survey of American Life. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 289–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasinitz, P. (1992). Caribbean New York: Black immigrants and the politics of race. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2000). Social cohesion, social capital, and health. In L. F. Berkman & I. Kawachi (Eds.), Social epidemiology (pp. 174–190). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J., & Ross, C. E. (2009). Neighborhood-specific and general social support: Which buffers the effect of neighborhood disorder on depression? Journal of Community Psychology, 37(6), 725–736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunitz, S. J. (2004). Social capital and health. British Medical Bulletin, 69(1), 61–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, D. S., Taylor, R. J., Nguyen, A. W., Chatters, L. M., & Himle, J. A. (2015). Family and friendship informal support networks and social anxiety disorder among African Americans and Caribbean blacks. Social Psychiatry an Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50, 1121–1133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, J. R. (2007). Who are the other African Americans? Contemporary African and Caribbean immigrants in the United States. In Y. Shaw-Taylor & S. Tuch (Eds.), The other African Americans: Contemporary African and Caribbean immigrants in the United States (pp. 49–68). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mair, C., Roux, D., A. V., & Morenoff, J. D. (2010). Neighborhood stressors and social support as predictors of depressive symptoms in the Chicago community adult health study. Health & Place, 16, 811–819.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marwell, N. P. (2007). Bargaining for Brooklyn: Community organizations in the entreprenaurial City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S. (1985). Ethnic residential segregation: A theoretical synthesis and empirical review. Sociology and Social Research, 69(3), 315–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S. (2001). Residential segregation and neighborhood conditions in U.S. metropolitan areas. In N. J. Smelser, W. J. Wilson, F. Mitchell (Eds.), America becoming: Racial trends and their consequences (pp. 391–434) Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & Denton, N. A. (1989). Hypersegregation in U.S. metropolitan areas: Black and Hispanic segregation along five dimensions. Demography, 26, 373–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & Denton, N. A. (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S., & Tannen, J. (2015). A research note on trends in black hypersegregation. Demography, 52(3), 1025–1034.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messeri, P., Silverstein, M., & Litwak, E. (1993). Choosing optimal support groups: A review and reformulation. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 34(2), 122–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milburn, N. G., & Bowman, P. J. (1991). Neighborhood life. In J. S. Jackson (Ed.), Life in black America (p.p. 31–45). Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molina, K. M., Alegría, M., & Chen, C. (2012). Neighborhood context and substance use disorders: A comparative analysis of racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 125(Suppl 1), S35–S43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, A. D. (1984). The origins of the civil rights movement: Black communities organizing for change. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mouzon, D. M. (2017). Religious involvement and the black-white paradox in mental health. Race and Social Problems, 9(1), 63–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osypuk, T. L., Roux, A. V., Hadley, C., & Kandula, N. R. (2009). Are immigrant enclaves healthy place to live? The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Social Science & Medicine, 69(1), 110–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parisi, D., Lichter, D. T., & Taquino, M. C. (2011). Multi-scale residential segregation: Black exceptionalism and America’s changing color line. Social Forces, 89, 829–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patillo-McCoy, M. (1999). Black picket fences: Privilege and peril among the black middle class. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polednak, A. P. (1993). Poverty, residential segregation, and black/white mortality ratios in urban areas. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 4(4), 363–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rastogi, S., Johnson, T. D., Hoeffel, E. M., & Drewery, M. P. (2011). The Black Population: 2010. 2010 Census Briefs: United States Census Bureau; September 2011.

  • Ross, C. (2000). Neighborhood disadvantage and adult depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 66(4), 568–591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C., & Mirowsky, J. (2009). Neighborhood disorder, subjective alienation, and distress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50(1), 49–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J. (2003). The neighborhood context of well-being. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 46(3), S53–S64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seitles, M. (1998). The perpetuation of residential racial segregation in America: Historical discrimination, modern forms of exclusion, and inclusionary remedies. The Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, 14, 89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simning, A., van Wijngaarden, E., & Conwell, Y. (2012). The association of African Americans’ perceptions of neighborhood crime and drugs with mental illness. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47, 1159–1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Small, M. L. (2006). Neighborhood Institutions as resource brokers: Childcare centers, interorganizational ties, and resource access among the poor. Social Problems, 53(2), 274–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Small, M. L. (2007). Racial differences in networks: Do neighborhood conditions matter? Social Science Quarterly, 88(2), 320–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Small, M. L., & McDermott, M. (2006). The presence of organizational resources in poor urban neighborhoods: An analysis of average and contextual effects. Social Forces, 84(3), 1697–1724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • StataCorp. (2015). Stata statistical software: Release 14. College Station: StataCorp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoll, M. A. (2001). Race, neighborhood poverty, and participation in voluntary associations. Sociological Forum, 16(3), 529–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. J., Chae, D. H., Lincoln, K. D., & Chatters, L. M. (2015). Extended family and friendship support networks are both protective and risk factors for major depressive disorder, and depressive symptoms among African Americans and black Caribbeans. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 203(2), 132–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. J., Chatters, L. M., Hardison, C. B., & Riley, A. (2001). Informal social support networks and subjective well-being among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 27(4), 439–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. J., Chatters, L. M., & Nguyen, A. W. (2013). Religious participation and DSM IV major depressive disorder among black Caribbeans in the United States. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 15, 903–909.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (1995). Stress, coping, and social support processes: Where are we? What next? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 53–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (2011). Mechanisms linking social ties and support of physical and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 52(2), 145–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, K. J. A. (2012). A demographic profile of black Caribbean immigrants in the United States. Washington, DC: The Migration Policy Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, M. E., & Holmes, B. J. (1992). Determinants of satisfaction for blacks and whites. The Sociological Quarterly, 33, 459–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tran, V. C., Graif, C., Jones, A. D., Small, M. L., & Winship, C. (2013). Participation in context: Neighborhood diversity and organizational involvement in Boston. City & Community., 12(3), 187–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, J. B., & Turner, R. J. (2013). Social relations, social integration, and social support. In Handbook of the sociology of mental health (2nd ed., pp. 341–356) Dordrecht: Springer + Business Media.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Waters, M. C. (1999). Black identities: West Indian immigrant dreams and American realities. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield, K. E., Allaire, J. C., Belue, R., & Edwards, C. L. (2008). Are comparisons the answer to understanding behavioral aspects of aging in racial and ethnic groups? The Journals of Gerontology Series B, 63(5), P301–P308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D. R., & Collins, C. (2001). Racial residential segregation: A fundamental cause of racial disparities in health. Public Health Reports, 116(5), 404–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D. R., Haile, R., González, H. M., Neighbors, H., Baser, R., & Jackson, J. S. (2007). The mental health of black Caribbean immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 52–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Teresa Scheid, André Christie-Mizell, Evelyn Patterson, and Lijun Song for their helpful comments. This paper was presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. The first author would also like to thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program for its financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christy L. Erving.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Erving, C.L., Hills, O. Neighborhood Social Integration and Psychological Well-Being Among African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. Race Soc Probl 11, 133–148 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-019-09258-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-019-09258-z

Keywords

Navigation