TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Environmental determinants of aggression in adolescents: role of urban neighborhood greenspace
JO  - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
A1  - Younan, Diana
A1  - Tuvblad, Catherine
A1  - Li, Lianfa
A1  - Wu, Jun
A1  - Lurmann, Fred
A1  - Franklin, Meredith
A1  - Berhane, Kiros
A1  - McConnell, Rob
A1  - Wu, Anna H.
A1  - Baker, Laura A.
A1  - Chen, Jiu-Chiuan
SP  - 591
EP  - 601
VL  - 55
IS  - 7
N2  - OBJECTIVE: Neighborhood greenspace improves mental health of urban-dwelling populations, but its putative neurobehavioral benefits in adolescents remain unclear. We conducted a prospective study on urban-dwelling adolescents to examine the association between greenspace in residential neighborhood and aggressive behaviors. <br><br>METHOD: Participants (n = 1,287) of the Risk Factors for Antisocial Behavior Study, a multi-ethnic cohort of twins and triplets born in 1990 to 1995 and living in Southern California, were examined in 2000 to 2012 (aged 9-18 years) with repeated assessments of their aggressive behaviors by the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite imagery was used as a proxy for residential neighborhood greenspace aggregated over various spatiotemporal scales before each assessment. Multilevel mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effects of greenspace on aggressive behaviors, adjusting for within-family/within-individual correlations and other potential confounders. <br><br>RESULTS: Both short-term (1- to 6-month) and long-term (1- to 3-year) exposures to greenspace within 1,000 meters surrounding residences were associated with reduced aggressive behaviors. The benefit of increasing vegetation over the range (∼0.12 in NDVI) commonly seen in urban environments was equivalent to approximately 2 to 2.5 years of behavioral maturation. Sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status) and neighborhood quality did not confound or modify these associations, and the benefits remained after accounting for temperature. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Our novel findings support the benefits of neighborhood greenspace in reducing aggressive behaviors of urban-dwelling adolescents. Community-based interventions are needed to determine the efficacy of greenspace as a preemptive strategy to reduce aggressive behaviors in urban environments.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0890-8567
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2016.05.002
ID  - ref1
ER  -