Publication date: September 2019
Source: Health & Place, Volume 59
Author(s): Philipp Hessel, María Alejandra Martínez Botero, Jorge Cuartas
Abstract
To assess the association between acute exposure to neighborhood violent crimes and depression we combined representative, individual-level and geo-coded data for individuals aged 60 years and above living in four major cities in Colombia from the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) with objective information on the timing and location of violent crimes. Exploiting spatial and temporal variation in the occurrence of crimes we find that being acutely exposed to a violent crime is positively associated with the number of depressive symptoms.