MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: Composition or context

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2017

ISSN: 1044-3983

DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000774

PMID: 29076878

Abstract: BACKGROUND The Moving To Opportunity (MTO) experiment manipulated neighborhood context by randomly assigning housing vouchers to volunteers living in public housing to use to move to lower poverty neighborhoods in five US cities. This random assignment overcomes confounding limitations that challenge other neighborhood studies. However, differences in MTO's effects across the five cities have been largely ignored. Such differences could be due to population composition (e.g., differences in the racial/ethnic distribution) or to context (e.g., differences in the economy). METHODS Using a nonparametric omnibus test and a multiply robust, semiparametric estimator for transportability, we assessed the extent to which differences in individual-level compositional characteristics that may act as effect modifiers can account for differences in MTO's effects across sites. We examined MTO's effects on marijuana use, behavioral problems, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder among black and Latino adolescent males, where housing voucher receipt was harmful for health in some sites but beneficial in others. RESULTS Comparing point estimates, differences in composition partially explained site differences in MTO effects on marijuana use and behavioral problems but did not explain site differences for major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder. CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide quantitative, rigorous evidence for the importance of context or unmeasured individual-level compositional variables in modifying MTO's effects.

Url: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29076878

Url: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=PMC5792307

Url: http://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=00001648-900000000-98777

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Rudolph, Kara E.; Schmidt, Nicole M.; Glymour, M Maria; Crowder, Rebecca; Galin, Jessica; Ahern, Jennifer; Osypuk, Theresa L

Periodical (Full): Epidemiology

Issue: 2

Volume: 29

Pages: 1

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop