Neighbourhood Perceptions, Evaluations and Wellbeing

Ayalon determined that “the importance of subjective mediators, rather than objective ones in explaining the association between perceived neighborhood characteristics and wellbeing.” Wellbeing was higher when perceived neighborhood disorder was lower and neighborhood cohesion was perceived to be higher, for example.

Liat Ayalon. 2023. “Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics and Wellbeing: Exploring Mediational Pathways.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 88, 102020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102020

The Irish Times reports on a study completed by Brouwer and van Rossum who found that “living in a safer neighborhood can have a greater impact on weight loss than how close your home is to a gym of grocery store.  Factors such as inadequate street lighting, groups of loitering children, and heavy traffic all have an association with difficulties losing weight. . . . In the long term [18 months], safety was associated with an average decrease of 3.2 percent in weight and an average reduction of 2.6 percent in waist circumference.”

“Want to Lose More Weight? Move to a Safer Neighborhood, Study Says.”  2023.  The Irish Times,https://www.theirishtimesnewstoday.com/want-to-lose-more-weight-move-to-a-safer-neighborhood-study-says/