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Validation of a neighborhood sentiment and safety index derived from existing data repositories

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 33, pages 207–217 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

The communities we live in are central to our health. Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with worse physical and mental health and even early mortality, while resident sense of safety and positive neighborhood sentiment has been repeatedly linked to better physical and mental health outcomes. Therefore, understanding where negative neighborhood sentiment and safety are salient concerns can help inform public health interventions and as a result, improve health outcomes. To date, fear of crime and neighborhood sentiment data or indices have largely been based on the administration of time consuming and costly standardized surveys.

Objective

The current study aims to develop a Neighborhood Sentiment and Safety Index (NSSI) at the census tract level, building on publicly available data repositories, including the US Census and ACS surveys, Data Axle, and ESRI repositories.

Methods

The NSSI was created using Principal Component Analysis. Mineigen and minimum loading values were 1 and 0.3, respectively. Throughout the step-wise PCA process, variables were excluded if their loading value was below 0.3 or if variables loaded into multiple components.

Results

The novel index was validated against standardized survey items from a longitudinal cohort study in the Northeastern United States characterizing experiences of (1) Neighborhood Characteristics with a Pearson correlation of −0.34 (p < 0.001) and, (2) Neighborhood Behavior Impact with a Pearson correlation of −0.33 (p < 0.001). It also accurately predicted the Share Care Community Well Being Index (Spearman correlation = 0.46) and the neighborhood deprivation index (NDI) (Spearman correlation = −0.75).

Significance

Our NSSI can serve as a predictor of neighborhood experience where data is either unavailable or too resource consuming to practically implement in planned studies.

Impact statement

To date, fear of crime and neighborhood sentiment data or indices have largely been based on the administration of time consuming and costly standardized surveys. The current study aims to develop a Neighborhood Sentiment and Safety Index (NSSI) at the census tract level, building on publicly available data repositories, including the US Census and ACS surveys, Data Axle, and ESRI repositories. The NSSI was validated against four separate measures and can serve as a predictor of neighborhood experience where data is either unavailable or too resource consuming to practically implement in planned studies.

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Fig. 1: Participant’s residential locations are primarily within the greater Boston metropolitan area.
Fig. 2: The NSSI ranges from −0.88 to 3.78.
Fig. 3: Zoomed in look at the greater Boston metropolitan area.
Fig. 4

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Data availability

All data included in the derivation of the NSSI exists within data repositories that are accessible without cost or with a subscription or purchase agreement. The data from validating source, ShareCare, is publically available on their website. The NDI provided by Children’s Environmental Health Initiative (CEHI) is available through a data request to their repository. The cohort validating data in this paper was collected as part of the PRogramming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms (PRISM) pregnancy cohort study at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Due to human subjects confidentiality, data are not publicly available; however, a limited dataset may be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by NIH grants: R01ES030302, P30ES023515, UG3OD023337 and U54TR004213. During preparation of this manuscript WC was supported by K99ES032029.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Mariel Geron, Whitney Cowell, Itai Kloog, Robert O. Wright & Rosalind J. Wright

  2. Institute of Criminology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Roni Factor

  3. Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Kevin Lane

  4. USA Institute for Exposomic Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Itai Kloog, Robert O. Wright & Rosalind J. Wright

  5. Kravis Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Rosalind J. Wright

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Contributions

MG and RF responsible for extracting and analyzing data, interpreting results, writing the manuscript and creating all tables and figures. IK oversaw spatial modeling. WC helped with analyzing data and interpreting results. RW and RW provided grant support and feedback on all steps of this study. All authors reviewed the final submitted manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rosalind J. Wright.

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Geron, M., Factor, R., Cowell, W. et al. Validation of a neighborhood sentiment and safety index derived from existing data repositories. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 33, 207–217 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-022-00486-x

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