Residential Stability and the Social Impact of Neighborhood Disadvantage: A Study of Gender- and Race-Contingent Effects

Is neighborhood disadvantage associated with social support? If so, does residential stability modify that association? And are there gender- and race-contingent patterns? Among a sample of adults aged 65 years and older, neighborhood disadvantage is associated positively with received and donated support among black women, but only in neighborhoods with higher levels of residential stability. In contrast, neighborhood disadvantage is associated negatively with donated support among white men and negatively with received support among white women, but only under conditions of low residential stability. I discuss the implications of these findings for theories about stress and community-level effects on social relationships in late life and draw linkages to the broader sociological discourse on social capital and collective efficacy.