Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Depressive Symptoms: The Role of Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion and Perceived Control

Few have examined mechanisms explaining the link between perceived neighborhood unsafety, neighborhood social processes, and depressive symptoms for Black adolescents. The goal of this study was to examine the role of perceived control as a mechanism linking perceptions of neighborhood unsafety and depressive symptoms, and neighborhood cohesion as a protective factor. Participants were 412 Black adolescents living in a major Mid-Atlantic urban center in the United States (49% female, M-age = 15.80, SD = 0.36). Participants reported perceptions of neighborhood unsafety at grade 10, neighborhood cohesion at grade 10, perceived control at grades 10 and 11 and depressive symptoms in grades 10 and 12. High neighborhood unsafety was associated with low perceived control and in turn high depressive symptoms only when neighborhood cohesion was high. The results highlight the role of neighborhood unsafety and perceived control in the development of depressive symptom and the possible downsides of neighborhood social factors.