Pathways between objective and perceived neighborhood factors among Black breast cancer survivors

Background Mounting evidence supports associations between objective neighborhood disorder, perceived neighborhood disorder, and health, yet alternative explanations involving socioeconomic and neighborhood social cohesion have been understudied. We tested pathways between objective and perceived neighborhood disorder, perceived neighborhood social cohesion, and socioeconomic factors within a longitudinal cohort. Methods Demographic and socioeconomic information before diagnosis was obtained at interviews conducted approximately 10 months post-diagnosis from participants in the Women’s Circle of Health Follow-up Study – a cohort of breast cancer survivors self-identifying as African American or Black women (n = 310). Neighborhood perceptions were obtained during follow-up interviews conducted approximately 24 months after diagnosis. Objective neighborhood disorder was from 9 items audited across 23,276 locations using Google Street View and scored to estimate disorder values at each participant’s residential address at diagnosis. Census tract socioeconomic and demographic composition covariates were from the 2010 U.S. Census and American Community Survey. Pathways to perceived neighborhood disorder were built using structural equation modelling. Model fit was assessed from the comparative fit index and root mean square error approximation and associations were reported as standardized coefficients and 95% confidence intervals. Results Higher perceived neighborhood disorder was associated with higher objective neighborhood disorder (β = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.06, 0.33), lower neighborhood social cohesion, and lower individual-level socioeconomic factors (final model root mean square error approximation 0.043 (90% CI: 0.013, 0.068)). Perceived neighborhood social cohesion was associated with individual-level socioeconomic factors and objective neighborhood disorder (β = − 0.11, 95% CI: − 0.24, 0.02). Conclusion Objective neighborhood disorder might be related to perceived disorder directly and indirectly through perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion.