Perceived Neighborhood Disorder, Self-Esteem, and the Moderating Role of Religion

A growing body of work links neighborhood conditions—and particularly perceived neighborhood disorder—with diverse aspects of psychosocial functioning, including self-esteem or the global moral self-worth of the individual. Our work augments this literature by investigating the possible roles of (a) organizational religiosity (i.e., religious attendance, religious support), (b) non-organizational religiosity (i.e., prayer and religious coping practices), and (c) the sense of divine control as potential stress in mitigating the deleterious effects of neighborhood disorder on self-esteem. Data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (NSAHS, 2011–2014) are used to test a series of hypotheses regarding the possible stress-buffering effects of multiple religious domains. Findings from multivariable regression models indicate that: (a) perceived neighborhood disorder is inversely associated with self-esteem; (b) non-organizational religiosity and the sense of divine control each mitigate this pattern; and, interestingly, (c) organizational religiosity does not buffer the association between neighborhood disorder and self-esteem. Several study limitations, as well as a number of promising directions for future research, are identified.