Greenspace redevelopment, pressure of displacement, and sleep quality among Black adults in Southwest Atlanta

Background Little is known on how greenspace redevelopment—creating or improving existing parks and trails—targeted for low-income and/or majority Black neighborhoods could amplify existing social environmental stressors, increase residents' susceptibility to displacement, and impact their sleep quality. Objective To examine the relationship between social environmental stressors associated with displacement and sleep quality among Black adults. Methods Linear regression models were employed on survey data to investigate the association between social environmental stressors, independently and combined, on sleep quality among Black adults residing in block groups targeted for greenspace redevelopment (i.e., exposed) and matched with block groups that were not (i.e., unexposed). Results The independent associations between everyday discrimination, heightened vigilance, housing unaffordability, and subjective sleep quality were not modified by greenspace redevelopment, controlling for other factors. The association between financial strain and subjective sleep quality was different for exposed and unexposed participants with exposed participants having a poorer sleep quality. The combined model revealed that the association between financial strain and sleep quality persisted. However, for different financial strain categories exposed participants slept poorer and/or better than unexposed participants. Significance Our findings suggest a nuanced relationship between social environmental stressors, pressure of displacement related to greenspace redevelopment, and sleep quality among Black adults.

Patrice C. Williams, Robert Krafty, Terrence Alexander, Zipporah Davis, Akil-Vuai Gregory, Raven Proby, Wendy Troxel, Christopher Coutts