Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Lending patterns based on the 1933 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation map characterizations resulted in long lasting and persistent economic and racial disparities. Many neighborhoods deemed ‘hazardous’ at the time remain low-income today. Poverty can increase children’s stress levels, which can result in adverse health effects from childhood into adulthood.

Objective: To determine differences in the presence of stressors surrounding redlined and non-redlined schools in Albany, New York. Methods: Data collection consisted of two components: (i) an observational study that evaluated the non-permanent stressors that the students were exposed to and (ii) a mapping identification to locate and evaluate stressors that students were seeing on a regular basis. The Kruskal Wallis one-way analysis of variance was used to test differences between individual schools and by redlining map status. Results: Preliminary data were collected during cold months. No significant difference was observed (p = 0.178) between the stressors around schools in redlined versus non-redlined neighborhoods. However, one of the two schools located in a redlined neighborhood did have a significantly greater (p = 0.0295) number of stressors compared to the other schools. Conclusion: Statistically significant differences in stressors by redlined status were not observed in this limited analysis. However, a difference in the presence of stressors [found] between the two redlined schools could be due to differences in the built environment surrounding each school, such as street traffic and green space. Data collection will be repeated in May and September to increase sample size and capture the stressors during warmer months.

Keywords: Stressors, redlining, elementary schools, Albany, United States