Perceived transportation barriers moderate the association between depressive symptoms and household transportation use: A pilot study

Although transportation use and related barriers in rural areas are substantially related to individual mental health outcomes, the relationship among depressive symptoms, perceived transportation barriers, and household transportation use remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate possible factors associated with household transportation use and examined whether perceived transportation barriers moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and household transportation use among residents in the southeastern U.S. rural areas after controlling for covariates. In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 191 Black/African American adults (18–84 years old) were recruited from four communities in the Alabama Black Belt areas. A multiple linear regression was performed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. Our regression model found that depressive symptoms and perceived transportation barriers interacted with one another to be related to the use of household transportation (p