The fear of crime and area differences in health

A number of studies have shown that major health inequalities exist between different areas within the UK. However, there has been some debate about the mechanisms underlying area differences in health. One of the mechanisms which could explain area differences in health is the fear of crime in the local area or neighbourhood. This study examines data From the 1996 British Crime Survey (N = 16, 090). The fear of crime was found to be associated with self-rated health even after adjusting for health behaviours and a number of individual and household level socio-economic factors. Area differences in self-rated health were reduced to non-significance after health behaviours, socio-economic factors and the fear of crime were adjusted for in the regression model. There is some evidence that fear of crime is associated with health and it may have an important role in explaining area differences in health. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.