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Social and Structural Determinants of Self-Rated Health in Gentrifying Neighborhoods in Austin Texas: A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Analysis

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Abstract

Association between neighborhood change and health exists in the literature with mixed evidence. This study examined the association between perceived gentrification and self-rated health—physical, mental, and general—in some selected neighborhoods experiencing gentrification in Austin, Texas. In this cross-sectional study, three hundred and forty (N = 340) current residents in East and Southeast Austin participated in a Neighborhood and Health Survey in summer 2020. We used a combination of quantitative techniques, including descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson’s Chi-square, analysis of variance, and logistic regression to describe and assess various relationships between variables. Results show that perceived gentrification among community members reduced the report of high self-rated mental health but increased the report for self-rated physical health and general health. In addition, older residents in these gentrifying neighborhoods rated their mental health higher than middle-aged residents. However, access to socioeconomic resources served as a cushion to the impact of gentrification on self-rated health in the multivariate analysis. Thus, this study provides evidence that reinforces the importance of health impact assessment of urban renewal policy and its implication on the minorities’ well-being, particularly longtime residents.

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Notes

  1. The Brown-Forsythe test attempts to correct for this skewness by using deviations from group medians. The result is a test that’s more robust. In other words, the B-F test is less likely than the Levene test to incorrectly declare that the assumption of equal variances has been violated.

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Acknowledgment

The authors appreciate the following people: Dr. Howard, Dr. Weaver, and Dr. Hagelman, for their respective and viable suggestions. Data collection for this study would not be possible without the Department of Geography's financial support through the Detlefsen Geography Scholarship and Doctoral Research Support Fellowship award.

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  1. Division of Social Sciences, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, 77446, USA

    Ayodeji Emmanuel Iyanda

  2. Department of Geography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Yongmei Lu

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  1. Ayodeji Emmanuel Iyanda
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Correspondence to Ayodeji Emmanuel Iyanda.

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Iyanda, A.E., Lu, Y. Social and Structural Determinants of Self-Rated Health in Gentrifying Neighborhoods in Austin Texas: A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Analysis. Int. Journal of Com. WB 5, 509–534 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42413-021-00155-1

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