Exposure to Hazardous Neighborhood Environments in Late Childhood and Anxiety

This investigation examined the relationship between living in disordered neighborhoods during childhood and anxiety 1 year later. Objective measures of neighborhood environment and individual data from a study of mental health in suburban children were utilized. Linear regression models were used to assess relationships between neighborhood hazard and anxiety. Childhood neighborhood disorder was inversely associated with generalized anxiety (β = 0.037, p<0.01) and social phobia (β = -0.33, p=0.03), but not other forms of anxiety including separation anxiety or panic disorder. We suspect that children with early exposure to disordered neighborhoods are either desensitized to toxic environments or that anxiety is not well specified for this population.