Abstract
Highlights
•Living near to certain urban features may impact mental health symptoms in children.
•Shorter distance from home to rail stations was associated with lower hyperactivity/inattention scores (i.e. fewer symptoms).
•Proximity to rail stations had no association with emotional symptoms or prosocial behaviour.
Abstract
Introduction
There is an evolving literature on the association of the proximity of place of residence to specific urban features with mental health symptoms or diagnoses, although few studies have examined these associations in children. This study tested the hypothesis that proximity of home to railway stations is a positive predictor of mental health at age 10 years.
Methods
We used data from a large population-based survey conducted in three municipalities in Tokyo, Japan, the Tokyo Early Adolescence Survey. We examined relationships between distance from home to the nearest railway station and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores for hyperactivity/inattention, prosocial behaviour and emotional symptoms. We undertook unadjusted analyses and then adjusted for urban, child and parental co-variates. Analyses were performed both in the whole sample and after stratification by child gender. Multiple Imputation with Chained Equations was used for missing data analyses.
Results
Greater distance to the nearest railway station was associated with higher SDQ-derived hyperactivity/inattention scores (i.e. more symptoms) in the unadjusted analysis across all 4052 analyzable children (β = 0.144, 95% C.I. 0.013 to 0.276, p = 0.031), and in the fully adjusted analysis in boys (β = 0.186, 95% C.I. 0.001 to 0.372, p = 0.049) but not in girls (β = 0.020, 95% C.I. −0.146 to 0.185, p = 0.817). There were no associations with the other SDQ-based outcomes of prosocial behaviour and emotional symptoms.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that access to high-frequency rail transit may be associated with improved hyperactivity/inattention outcomes in children living in urban environments, raising the possibility that an additional benefit of transit-oriented developments in urban settings may be a positive impact on this important aspect of children's mental health.
•Living near to certain urban features may impact mental health symptoms in children.
•Shorter distance from home to rail stations was associated with lower hyperactivity/inattention scores (i.e. fewer symptoms).
•Proximity to rail stations had no association with emotional symptoms or prosocial behaviour.
Abstract
Introduction
There is an evolving literature on the association of the proximity of place of residence to specific urban features with mental health symptoms or diagnoses, although few studies have examined these associations in children. This study tested the hypothesis that proximity of home to railway stations is a positive predictor of mental health at age 10 years.
Methods
We used data from a large population-based survey conducted in three municipalities in Tokyo, Japan, the Tokyo Early Adolescence Survey. We examined relationships between distance from home to the nearest railway station and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores for hyperactivity/inattention, prosocial behaviour and emotional symptoms. We undertook unadjusted analyses and then adjusted for urban, child and parental co-variates. Analyses were performed both in the whole sample and after stratification by child gender. Multiple Imputation with Chained Equations was used for missing data analyses.
Results
Greater distance to the nearest railway station was associated with higher SDQ-derived hyperactivity/inattention scores (i.e. more symptoms) in the unadjusted analysis across all 4052 analyzable children (β = 0.144, 95% C.I. 0.013 to 0.276, p = 0.031), and in the fully adjusted analysis in boys (β = 0.186, 95% C.I. 0.001 to 0.372, p = 0.049) but not in girls (β = 0.020, 95% C.I. −0.146 to 0.185, p = 0.817). There were no associations with the other SDQ-based outcomes of prosocial behaviour and emotional symptoms.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that access to high-frequency rail transit may be associated with improved hyperactivity/inattention outcomes in children living in urban environments, raising the possibility that an additional benefit of transit-oriented developments in urban settings may be a positive impact on this important aspect of children's mental health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 101564 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Transport and Health |
| Volume | 28 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Gerald Romme, University of Toronto for his support with using ArcGIS software. We are grateful to Professor Kwame McKenzie of the Wellesley Institute and University of Toronto, for his general support and discussions of factors relating to the impact of environment on mental health. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (23118002; Adolescent Mind & Self-Regulation) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (grant numbers JP16H06395, 16H06398, 16H06399, 16K21720, 16K15566, 16H03745, 17H05931, JP19H04877, 20H03951, 20H03596, 20H01777, and 21H00451); the UTokyo Center for Integrative Science of Human Behavior (CiSHuB); and the International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN) at the University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS).
Funding Information:
This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (23118002; Adolescent Mind & Self-Regulation) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (grant numbers JP16H06395, 16H06398, 16H06399, 16K21720, 16K15566, 16H03745, 17H05931, JP19H04877, 20H03951, 20H03596, 20H01777, and 21H00451); the UTokyo Center for Integrative Science of Human Behavior (CiSHuB); and the International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN) at the University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS).
Funding Information:
We thank Gerald Romme, University of Toronto for his support with using ArcGIS software. We are grateful to Professor Kwame McKenzie of the Wellesley Institute and University of Toronto, for his general support and discussions of factors relating to the impact of environment on mental health. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas ( 23118002 ; Adolescent Mind & Self-Regulation ) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan ; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (grant numbers JP16H06395 , 16H06398 , 16H06399 , 16K21720 , 16K15566 , 16H03745 , 17H05931 , JP19H04877 , 20H03951 , 20H03596 , 20H01777 , and 21H00451 ); the UTokyo Center for Integrative Science of Human Behavior (CiSHuB) ; and the International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN) at the University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS) .
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