How Do Individual-Level Sociodemographics and Neighbourhood-Level Characteristics Influence Residential Location Behaviour in the Context of the Food and Built Environment? Findings from 25 Years of Follow-up in the CARDIA Study

Citation

Rummo, Pasquale E.; Guilkey, David K.; Shikany, James M.; Reis, Jared P.; & Gordon-Larsen, Penny (2017). How Do Individual-Level Sociodemographics and Neighbourhood-Level Characteristics Influence Residential Location Behaviour in the Context of the Food and Built Environment? Findings from 25 Years of Follow-up in the CARDIA Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 71(3), 261-268. PMCID: PMC5318652

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how diet-related and activity-related amenities relate to residential location behaviour. Understanding these relationships is essential for addressing residential self-selection bias.
METHODS: Using 25 years (6 examinations) of data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study (n=11 013 observations) and linked neighbourhood-level data from the 4 CARDIA baseline cities (Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Oakland, California, USA), we characterised participants' neighbourhoods as having low, average or high road connectivity and amenities using non-hierarchical cluster analysis. We then used repeated measures multinomial logistic regression with random effects to examine the associations between individual-level sociodemographics and neighbourhood-level characteristics with residential neighbourhood types over the 25-year period, and whether these associations differed by individual-level income.
RESULTS: Being female was positively associated with living in neighbourhoods with low (vs high) road connectivity and activity-related and diet-related amenities among high-income individuals only. At all income levels, a higher percentage of neighbourhood white population and neighbourhood population <18 years were associated with living in neighbourhoods with low (vs high) connectivity and amenities. Individual-level race; age; and educational attainment, neighbourhood socioeconomic status and housing prices did not influence residential location behaviour related to neighbourhood connectivity and amenities at any income level.
CONCLUSIONS: Neighbourhood-level factors appeared to play a comparatively greater role in shaping residential location behaviour than individual-level sociodemographics. Our study is an important step in understanding how residential locational behaviour relates to amenities and physical activity opportunities, and may help mitigate residential self-selection bias in built environment studies.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2016-207249

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2017

Journal Title

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

Author(s)

Rummo, Pasquale E.
Guilkey, David K.
Shikany, James M.
Reis, Jared P.
Gordon-Larsen, Penny

PMCID

PMC5318652

ORCiD

Gordon-Larsen - 0000-0001-5322-4188
Rummo - 0000-0002-9285-5430