Does poor health predict moving, move quality, and desire to move?: A study examining neighborhood selection in US adolescents and adults.

Health Place
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

To date, research has rarely considered the role of health in shaping characteristics of the neighborhood, including mobility patterns. We explored whether individual health status shapes and constrains where individuals live. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data, we examined whether 16 health indicators predicted moving, move quality, and desire to move. 3.8% of adolescents (n=490) reported a move in the past year. In the unadjusted models, 10 health indicators were associated with moving; the magnitude of association for these health indicators was similar to socio-demographic characteristics. 7 of these health-moving associations persisted after adjusting for covariates. Health was also associated with moving quality, with a greater number of past year health problems in the child being associated with moving to a lower income neighborhood and parent disability or poor health being associated with moving to a higher income neighborhood. Almost every poor health status indicator was associated with a greater desire to move. Findings suggest that health status influences moving, and a reciprocal framework is more appropriate for examining health-neighborhood linkages.

Year of Publication
2014
Journal
Health Place
Volume
30
Pages
154-64
Date Published
2014 Nov
ISSN
1873-2054
URL
DOI
10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.08.007
PubMed ID
25282124
PubMed Central ID
PMC4467831
Links
Grant list
K01 MH102403 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
L40 MH098379 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
P01 HD031921 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States