Abstract
Objective: This study examines possible bidirectional relationships between neighborhood climate (i.e., perceived neighborhood social environment) and walking behavior across a 12-month period in older Hispanics. Method: A population-based sample of 217 community-dwelling older Hispanics in Miami, Florida, completed measures of perceived neighborhood climate and neighborhood walking, at two assessment time points (12 months apart). Results: Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that neighborhood climate predicted subsequent walking 12 months later, such that more positive perceptions of neighborhood climate predicted more walking. Follow-up analyses revealed that older adults who resided in the top half of neighborhoods based on perceived neighborhood climate scores at initial assessment were 2.57 times as likely to have walked at least one block in the last week at follow-up, relative to older adults residing in neighborhoods whose climate was in the lower half. Discussion: Perceptions of a more positive neighborhood social environment may promote walking in urban, older Hispanics.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1325-1351 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Journal of aging and health |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2011 |
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following support for the research and/or authorship of this article: This work was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Grant No. MH 063709 (J. Szapocznik, principal investigator; A. Spokane, coprincipal investigator), a National Institute on Aging Grant No. AG 027527 (J. Szapocznik, principal investigator; S. Brown, coprincipal investigator), and by a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Grant No. DK 074687 (J. Szapocznik, principal investigator; T. Perrino, project director).
Keywords
- Hispanics
- Latinos
- longitudinal analyses
- older adults
- perceived neighborhood climate
- physical activity
- social environment
- structural equation modeling
- walking
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Life-span and Life-course Studies
- Sociology and Political Science