Advisor(s)
Olivio Clay
Committee Member(s)
Michael Crowe
Olivio Clay
Suzanne Judd
School
College of Arts and Sciences
Document Type
Thesis
Department (new version)
Psychology
Date of Award
6-3-2025
Abstract
Mental health disorders impact approximately 14% of persons aged 65 and older and often are undertreated or underrecognized. Assessment of factors that link environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological factors to overall health and disease is integral to guiding research on health disparities in older populations. Although research suggests associations between environmental factors (i.e., discrimination and neighborhood cohesion) and mental health outcomes, there is limited research on these factors within the U.S. Therefore, our study assessed the relationship between discrimination, neighborhood cohesion, and mental health outcomes in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a national, prospective cohort study that recruited approximately 31,000 people from 2003-2007 with an oversampling of individuals from the Black belt/buckle region and completed a second in-home visit on approximately half of the original participants from 2013 to 2016. Included participants were more likely to be younger, white, females with higher education and income, who were less likely to have comorbid conditions or experience discrimination, live in non-cohesive neighborhoods with lower reports of perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and higher MCS scores. Our study found a significant association between experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms. Specifically, a one unit increase in experiences of everyday discrimination was associated with 1.03 times higher odds of reporting depressive symptoms and having 0.13 decrease in MCS scores. A one unit increase in neighborhood cohesion was associated with 0.91 times lower odds of reporting depressive symptoms, 0.95 times lower odds of reporting perceived stress as well as 0.24 increase in MCS scores. Clinicians may need to consider how environmental factors may impact mental health outcomes. Future research should assess how community support systems may serve as an opportunity to improve mental health outcomes in an aging population.
ProQuest ID
Recommended Citation
Brooks, Marquita S., "Experiences Of Discrimination And Neighborhood Cohesion In Risk Of Poor Mental Health Outcomes Among Older, Community-Dwelling Participants In The Regards Study" (2025). All ETDs from UAB. 7325.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7325
