Neighborhood impacts mental health, well-being, study finds

Nearly 9 million Americans live in extreme-poverty neighborhoods, places that also tend to be crime-ridden and dangerous. A new study offers new insights into the effects that living in such neighborhoods has on people’s well-being.

In their weekly conversation, WHYY’s Health and Science reporter Maiken Scott and psychologist Dan Gottlieb discuss this new research.

The study was done by a team of researchers at the University of Chicago. They used data from a “social experiment” which started in 1994 called “Moving to Opportunity”. This experiment took place in five cities, and relocated families from very poor neighborhoods into less poor neighborhoods.

Several studies have been done with the data – this latest study looks at the impact on long-term well-being and mental health.