Sense of coherence as a mediator between perceived neighborhood characteristics and health

We examine how sense of coherence (SOC) mediates the association between perceived neighborhood characteristics and health, using micro data collected from a nationwide Internet survey in Japan conducted in 2011 (N = 9,940). We focus on the impact of neighborhood dissatisfaction, various aspects of perceived neighborhood characteristics, and trust in neighbors on self-rated health and four types of unhealthy behaviors: performing no exercise, sleeping for short periods, smoking, and eating no breakfast. After controlling for SOC, the direct relationship between subjective neighborhood assessment and health was less pronounced. At the same time, a mediation analysis reveals that the impact of neighborhood characteristics on health is highly mediated by SOC. Moreover, the extent of SOC mediation differs substantially across combinations of specific neighborhood characteristics and health variables. Among neighborhood characteristics, perceived safety tends to directly affect health with limited mediation. Among the unhealthy behaviors, performing no exercise is associated with a wide variety of neighborhood characteristics, the impacts of which are substantially mediated by SOC. We believe that this study presents a new aspect to the analysis of the association between one’s perception of his/her neighborhood and health.