(The Ohio State University)
Racial Differences in Activity Space Disadvantage and Everyday Perceptions of Safety: Implications for Understanding Health Disparities
Emerging research indicates that the everyday mobility patterns of urban adolescents are more complex than previously assumed in most residential “neighborhood effects” studies. We describe findings from the Columbus, OH-based Adolescent Health and Development in Context (AHDC) study (N=1405) demonstrating the expansive and heterogeneous nature of routine mobility with a focus on Black-identifying youth. We then consider the influence of intra-individual variability in exposure to neighborhood racial composition and violence for perceptions of safety. GPS data on the mobility trajectories of youth (ages 11 to 17) over a week-long period are combined with ecological momentary assessments of real-time safety perceptions to identify the spatial conditions under which youth report higher levels of unsafety. Findings indicate that exposure to higher area-level violence is relevant for safety perceptions among Black youth. Momentary exposure to residentially whiter neighborhoods also increases perceptions of unsafety, but only for those Black youth with higher mean levels of exposure to white areas. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of everyday safety perceptions for understanding racial health disparities emerging in adolescence.