Methods for Evaluating the Physical and Social Environment of Urban Neighborhoods

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目的是设计和评估一个全面的，系统的方法，通过直接观察邻里特征来表征城市邻里。公共卫生研究人员和从业人员已开始重新关注个人生活的环境，将其作为健康的重要决定因素。邻里特征通常通过参与者自我报告、观察（通常通过视频）或美国人口普查等二级数据库来衡量。这些办法的主要局限性包括无法监测随着时间的推移而发生的变化、费用和大量的人力资源。这限制了他们在多项研究中的参与，并导致在研究期间仅在一个点对社区进行评估。然而，在多年的研究中，城市街区的背景可能会显着改变，由于季节性，绅士化，移民等，我们建议评估和修改一个简短的规模，已经开发的研究小组，旨在测量的社会，物理和资源环境的城市街区，通过直接观察和检查的信度和效度的规模。为了实现这些目标，我们将在一个更大的多层次的家长研究中工作，旨在研究城市环境的特征与心理健康，药物使用和艾滋病毒风险之间的关联，在36个纽约市社区已经被人种学定义。我们将首先在纽约市的富裕社区和/或以白色为主的社区中定义另外15个社区，因为我们目前的抽样框架被经济贫困和少数民族高发的社区所过度代表。接下来，我们将使用我们的邻里评价量表和邻里映射来衡量城市环境。51个目标社区中的每一个都将由两名独立的观察员每年两次进行评估，为期2年，提供4次数据收集，分析和量表修订的迭代。将通过评分员间和重测信度和内部一致性的措施来评估信度。有问题的项目将在下一次迭代中被消除或重新工作。还将对每种有效性类型的量表进行评估。将通过研究者、顾问和工作人员的审查评估表面有效性。内容有效性将通过内部一致性和培训前和培训后的项目价值评估进行评估。因素分析将用于探索因素的存在和性质。将通过视频记录和对作为量表最后迭代的“黄金标准”的区组子样本进行评级来评估与标准相关的有效性。外部结构有效性检查将每个社区的量表结果与美国人口普查的关键指标进行比较（例如，收入不平等）。在第二年，我们还将在50个随机选择的底特律社区管理规模，以评估规模的表现在另一个城市环境和评估的普遍性。公共卫生相关性：公共卫生研究人员和从业人员已开始重新关注的背景下，作为个人的生活作为一个重要的决定因素的健康。社区特征通常通过参与者来衡量 自我报告、观察（通常通过视频）或像美国人口普查这样的二级数据库（其监视随时间变化的能力有限）是昂贵的并且需要大量的人力资源。本研究的目的是设计和评估一个全面的，系统的方法来表征城市街区，通过直接观察的邻里特征，将解决这些限制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a comprehensive, systematic approach to characterizing urban neighborhoods through direct observation of neighborhood characteristics. Public health researchers and practitioners have begun to refocus on the context in which an individual lives as an important determinant of health. Neighborhood characteristics are typically measured through participant self-report, observation (often via video), or secondary databases like the US Census. Major limitations of these approaches include the inability to monitor changes over time, costs and significant staff resources. This has limited their inclusion in more than a few studies and resulted in neighborhoods being evaluated at a single point during a study. Yet, during a multi-year study, the urban neighborhood context may significantly change as a result of seasonality, gentrification, immigration, etc. We propose to evaluate and revise a brief scale, already developed by the research team, aimed at measuring the social, physical and resource environment of urban neighborhoods through direct observation and examine the reliability and validity of the scale. To achieve these aims, we will be working within a larger multi-level parent study aimed at examining the associations between features of the urban environment and mental health, drug use, and HIV risk in 36 NYC neighborhoods that have already been ethnographically defined. We will first define an additional 15 neighborhoods in affluent and/or predominantly white neighborhoods in New York City, as our current sampling frame is overrepresented by neighborhoods with a high prevalence of economic deprivation and minorities. Next, we will use our neighborhood evaluation scale and neighborhood mapping to measure the urban environment. Each of the 51 target neighborhoods will be rated by two independent observers twice a year for 2 years, providing 4 iterations for data collection, analysis and scale revision. Reliability will be assessed via measures of inter-rater and test retest reliability and internal consistency. Problematic items will be eliminated or reworked in the next iteration. The scale will also be assessed for each type of validity. Face validity will be assessed through review by study investigators, consultants and staff. Content validity will be evaluated through internal consistency and evaluation of item values pre- and post-training. Factor analysis will be used to explore the presence and nature of factors. Criterion-related validity will be assessed by video recording and rating a sub-sample of blocks as a "gold standard" for the final iteration of the scale. External construct validity checks comparing the scale results for each neighborhood to key indicators from the US Census (e.g., residential segregation, income inequality) will be performed. In year 2, we will also administer the scale in 50 randomly selected Detroit neighborhoods to evaluate the scale's performance in another urban setting and assess the generalizability. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Public health researchers and practitioners have begun to refocus on the context in which as individual lives as an important determinant of health. Neighborhood characteristics are typically measured through participant self-report, observation (often via video), or secondary databases like the US Census which are limited in their ability to monitor changes over time, are expensive and require significant staffing resources. The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a comprehensive, systematic approach to characterizing urban neighborhoods through direct observation of neighborhood characteristics that will address these limitations.