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Crime-related perceptions and walking for recreation inside and outside one's home neighborhood
Roman, Caterina G. Chen, Ruohui Natarajan, Loki Conway, Terry L. Patch, Christina Taylor, Ralph B. Cain, Kelli L. Roesch, Scott Adams, Mark A. Saelens, Brian E.
Roman, Caterina G.
Chen, Ruohui
Natarajan, Loki
Conway, Terry L.
Patch, Christina
Taylor, Ralph B.
Cain, Kelli L.
Roesch, Scott
Adams, Mark A.
Saelens, Brian E.
Abstract
It is widely assumed crime and related concerns, including neighborhood incivilities and fear of crime, are barriers to physical activity (PA). Past studies reveal mixed evidence. Studies of impacts for crime-protective factors are less common but have similarly mixed results. This paper evaluates a comprehensive transdisciplinary conceptual framework of cross-sectional associations between crime-related perceptions and reported minutes/week of recreational walking inside and outside one's home neighborhood. Safe and Fit Environments Study (SAFE) recruited and surveyed 2302 participants from adolescents to older adults from four U.S. metropolitan areas. A zero-inflated model estimated two components of each outcome: whether the respondent walked, and minutes/week walked. Correlates of recreational walking were location-specific, differing based on walking location. Fear of crime, risk evaluation, victimization, and incivilities were not consistently associated with walking for recreation inside one's neighborhood. People with crime concerns about their own neighborhoods, however, more commonly walked for recreation outside their neighborhoods. Protective crime-related perceptions that seldom have been studied in relation to PA, such as street efficacy (i.e., the perceived ability to avoid and manage danger), were strongly associated with recreational walking in both locations, indicating the additional heuristic value of the SAFE conceptual framework.
Keywords
exercise, fear of crime, perceptions of crime, physical activity, public health, safety
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Health and Place
Book
Volume
89
Issue
Page Range
1-15
Article Number
Article 103316
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled
Notes
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