Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032-3727, USA.
Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2010 Jul;23(4):337-41. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0b013e32833ad70b.
The present review focuses on recent findings about the relation between neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptoms with particular attention paid to methodologic issues including application of theory, study design, and trajectories of depression.
The majority of recent studies found that deprivation, residential segregation, and residential instability were associated with increased depressive symptoms or depression independent of individual level characteristics, whereas a minority of studies suggested that individual level characteristics explained away the association between neighborhood level factors and depression. Of note was an increased application of longitudinal designs compared with previous studies.
Current research suggests that findings regarding the association between neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptoms remain unclear. We recommend a more rigorous approach to empirically test the theories that may explain the relation between neighborhood conditions and depression. Such an approach will highlight which neighborhood characteristics are important to consider analytically and the ways in which they are associated with depression. We may also learn whether contradictory findings reflect population differences or whether they are a result of measurement and statistical issues.
本综述重点关注最近关于邻里社会人口特征与抑郁症状之间关系的发现，特别关注理论应用、研究设计和抑郁轨迹等方法学问题。
大多数最新研究发现，贫困、居住隔离和居住不稳定与抑郁症状或抑郁症的增加有关，而与个体水平特征无关，而少数研究表明，个体水平特征解释了邻里水平因素与抑郁之间的关系。值得注意的是，与之前的研究相比，纵向设计的应用有所增加。
目前的研究表明，邻里社会人口特征与抑郁症状之间的关联仍不清楚。我们建议采取更严格的方法来实证检验可能解释邻里条件与抑郁之间关系的理论。这种方法将突出分析哪些邻里特征是重要的，以及它们与抑郁的关联方式。我们也可能了解到相互矛盾的发现是反映人口差异还是由于测量和统计问题。
