Citation

Akingbade O, Peek ME, Tung EL. J. Gen. Intern Med. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11606-021-06607-w

PMID

33506401

Abstract

The growing epidemic of violence in urban cities has been linked to stress-related health disorders and PTSD.1 Social networks, broadly defined as an individual's personal and professional relationships, may be protective against these consequences.2 However, studies on network size have been mixed.2 We hypothesized that network proximity, the physical closeness of network confidants, may help explain differences in the level of protection conferred by social networks. In this study, we compared network size alone versus network size and proximity, to examine associations between these characteristics and psychosocial health (violence-related stress and PTSD) in a high-risk population.

In this sample of high-risk, racial/ethnic minority adults in Chicago, we found that network proximity, rather than network size alone, was associated with lower odds of PTSD. This study is among the first, to our knowledge, to compare network size and proximity, and their respective associations with the psychosocial consequences of violence. Our findings raise the possibility that close proximity to network confidants may be a key factor for mitigating the harmful effects of community violence. One possible reason is that physical proximity may facilitate a type of "extended kinship," providing reliable socioeconomic and emotional resources that are responsive to neighborhood events and conditions.6 Neither network size nor proximity was associated with reductions in violence-related stress. We theorize that while stress may be more pervasive in populations with chronic exposure to violence, PTSD, which is more closely associated with personal exposure to violence, may be more responsive to the benefits of local networks. For instance, individuals with PTSD may rely on close confidants to navigate daily activities and regulate hypervigilance symptoms...

Language: en