Neighborhood disadvantage and adult depression

Using multilevel data, I find that residents of poor; mother-only neighborh oods have higher levels of depression than residents of more advantaged nei ghborhoods. My data are from the 1995 Community, Crime and Health survey a probability sample of 2,482 adults in Illinois with linked information abou t the respondents' census tract. Adjustment for individual-level race, ethn icity, sex, age, education, employment, income, household structure, and ur ban residence indicates that more than half of apparent contextual effect i s really compositional, due to the fact that residents of disadvantaged nei ghborhoods tend to be disadvantaged themselves; however; a significant cont extual effect survives. All of the distressing effects of female headship a nd poverty in the neighborhood are mediated by perceived neighborhood disor der. The daily stress of living in a neighborhood where social order has br oken down is associated with depression.