A Geospatial Analysis of Health, Mental Health, and Stressful Community Contexts in Los Angeles County
ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 16 — November 7, 2019
PEER REVIEWED
This conceptual model delineates the potential relationships between stressful community contexts, psychological well-being, health risk behaviors, and mental health supports. Stressful community contexts (eg, community-level economic hardship) have a potential direct effect on mental health supports (eg, publicly funded mental health facilities), psychological well-being (eg, psychological distress), health risk behaviors (eg, soda consumption), and chronic disease risk. Mental health supports have a potential direct effect on psychological well-being and health risk behaviors. Psychological well-being and health risk behaviors have a potential direct effect on each other. Mental health supports have a potential moderating effect on the relationship between psychological well-being and health risk behaviors. Psychological well-being and health risk behaviors have a direct effect on chronic disease risk.
Figure 1.
Conceptual model of possible relationships among factors that can influence chronic disease risk.
Geospatial comparison of community-level economic hardship, soda consumption, psychological distress, and availability of publicly funded mental health facilities in Los Angeles County, 2014–2018. Abbreviation: Int, intermediate. [A text description of this figure is also available.]
The bivariate choropleth maps depict the geographic overlap between variables of interest in Los Angeles County during 2014-2018. The distribution is further subdivided into Service Planning Areas distinct to Los Angeles County.
Figure 2. Geospatial comparison of community-level economic hardship, soda consumption, psychological distress, and availability of publicly funded mental health facilities in Los Angeles County, 2014–2018. Abbreviation: Int, intermediate.
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