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abstract: Psychological distress occurs at disproportionate rates among minority groups and individuals with lower socioeconomic status. This dissertation focuses on the relationship between living in a disadvantaged neighborhood and distress among Latinos, the formal and informal organizations that mediate the direct and indirect relationship between disadvantage and distress in this population, and the differences of social stress processes based on aspects of Latino social status, linguistic acculturation status, and the percentage of residents in the neighborhood that identify as Latino. This dissertation focuses its investigation on Latinos living in Chicago, specifically asking: In a metropolitan city, can the presence of formal and informal community organizations protect Latinos living in disadvantage neighborhoods from experiencing psychological distress? The findings demonstrate an indirect association between disadvantage and distress though objective disorganization and perception of disorganization. Both the density of community centers and block watch had an indirect protective effect, mediating the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and distress, but did not decrease the indirect effect of disadvantage on distress through objective or perceptions of disorganization. The results of this dissertation suggest that changes to a neighborhood's environment may decrease population rates of distress in disadvantaged neighborhoods. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Social Work 2014

Though mental health issues are prevalent amongst college students, pre-college environment and experiences are largely overlooked as potential factors in scientific literature. The current study examined the association of neighborhood disorganization, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and mental health outcomes in a sample of college students. Utilizing the ecological model of human development and risk-resilience framework, I examined co-parenting quality as a plausible protective factor against the negative effects of adverse childhood experiences and neighborhood disorder. Self-report measures of ACEs, co-parenting quality, neighborhood disorder, anxiety, and depression were completed by a sample of college students (N = 259; mean age = 19.2 years). Simultaneous multiple regressions indicated that more ACEs predicted more depression and anxiety symptoms. However, neighborhood disorder did not predict anxiety or depression, and co-parenting quality did not moderate the association between neighborhood and mental health or ACEs and mental health outcomes. Results highlight future researchers should investigate pre-college environment to better understand college student mental health.