Twenty Years of Neighborhood Effect Research: An Assessment

This paper reviews the magnitude and empirical findings of social epidemiological neighborhood effects research. An electronic keyword literature search identified 1369 empirical and methodological neighborhood effects papers published in 112 relevant journals between 1990 and 2014. Analyses of temporal trends were conducted by focus, journal type (e.g., epidemiology, public health, or social science), and specific epidemiologic journal. Select papers were then critically reviewed. Results show an ever-increasing number of papers published, notably since the year 2000, with the majority published in public health journals. The variety of health outcomes analyzed is extensive, ranging from infectious disease to obesity to criminal behavior. Papers relying on data from experimental designs are thought to yield the most credible results, but such studies are few and findings are inconsistent. Papers relying on data from observational designs and multilevel models typically show small statistically significant effects, but most fail to appreciate fundamental identification problems. Ultimately, of the 1170 empirically focused neighborhood effects papers published in the last 24 years, only a handful have clearly advanced our understanding of the phenomena. The independent impact of neighborhood contexts on health remains unclear. It is time to expand the social epidemiological imagination.