Migration and psychological well-being among older adults: a growth curve analysis based on panel data from the Health and Retirement Study, 1996-2006.

PURPOSE: A vibrant body of research examines migration among older adults. Existing research, however, grants scarce attention to the implications of later-life migration for the migrants themselves. Our research focuses on the impacts of migration on depressive symptomatology among older U.S. adults. METHODS: Our analysis employs six waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study, 1996-2006. Growth curve modeling techniques are employed. RESULTS: Net of other stressful life events, migration effects appear to vary significantly across persons. Findings highlight the particularly depressive impact of moves motivated by negative life events or circumstances. Results further suggest that later life moves may be especially stressful for women and as individuals age. DISCUSSION: The stress of moving late in life may depend on social integration at destination. Further research should pursue this issue. Study limitations and additional directions for further research are delineated.

Individual actual or perceived property flood risk: did it predict evacuation from Hurricane Isabel in North Carolina, 2003?

Individual perception of risk has consistently been considered an important determinant of hurricane evacuation in published studies and reviews. Adequate risk assessment is informed by environmental and social cues, as well as evacuation intentions and past disaster experience. This cross-sectional study measured perceived flood risk of 570 residents of three coastal North Carolina counties, compared their perception with actual risk determined by updated flood plain maps, and determined if either was associated with evacuation from Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Census blocks were stratified by flood zone and 30 census blocks were randomly selected from each flood zone. Seven interviews were conducted at random locations within selected blocks. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to produce crude and adjusted risk differences. Neither the designated flood zone of the parcel where the home was located nor the residents' perceived flood risk was associated with evacuation from Hurricane Isabel in the bivariate analysis. In the multivariable analysis, intention to evacuate and home type were important confounders of the association between actual risk and evacuation. The belief that one is at high risk of property damage or injury is important in evacuation decision making. However, in this study, while coastal residents' perceived risk of flooding was correlated with their actual flood risk, neither was associated with evacuation. These findings provide important opportunities for education and intervention by policymakers and authorities to improve hurricane evacuation rates and raise flood risk awareness.

Environmental stressors: the mental health impacts of living near industrial activity.

A growing literature examines whether the poor, the working class, and people of color are disproportionately likely to live in environmentally hazardous neighborhoods. This literature assumes that environmental characteristics such as industrial pollution and hazardous waste are detrimental to human health, an assumption that has not been well tested. Drawing upon the sociology of mental health and environmental inequality studies, we ask whether industrial activity has an impact on psychological well-being. We link individual-level survey data with data from the US. Census and the Toxic Release Inventory and find that residential proximity to industrial activity has a negative impact on mental health. This impact is both direct and mediated by individuals' perceptions of neighborhood disorder and personal powerlessness, and the impact is greater for minorities and the poor than it is for whites and wealthier individuals. These results suggest that public health officials need to take seriously the mental health impacts of living near industrial facilities.

The race gap in support group participation by breast cancer survivors: real or artifact?

Addressing methodological weaknesses of previous research, this study assesses whether African American women are, in fact, less likely to participate in breast cancer support groups than are White women. Of the breast cancer survivors, 958 (26% African Americans, 73% Caucasian) completed interviews concerning demographic characteristics, other support networks, effects of illness on home and spiritual life, and support group participation. Contrary to previous research, no race difference was found in support group participation. This research suggests more effort needs to be paid to sampling techniques and other methodological factors to adequately reflect the experiences and needs of breast cancer survivors, specifically African American women.