NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTERISTICS AND MENTAL-ILLNESS

This paper presents an analysis of the importance of incorporating bot h individual and neighborhood risk factors into predictive mental heal th needs assessment models. The analyses are based on data from the me tropolitan portion of Wave I of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Surve y, a large community survey, and the 1980 decennial census. Logistic r egression procedures were used to estimate the odds ratios for the cla ssic social area dimensions (neighborhood social rank, life style/urba nization and race/ethnicity) as well as the standard individual (age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, and high school education). Th e results suggest that, with the exception of neighborhood social rank , neighborhoods social area dimension rarely make substantively import ant contributions to main effects needs assessment models. Thus, the i nclusion of neighborhood risk factors, with the exception of neighborh ood social rank, in main effects needs assessment models, while useful , may not always be necessary, particularly if their inclusion is cost ly and the substantively important individual risk factors are easily available. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.