Does social cohesion mediate neighbourhood effects on mental and physical health? Longitudinal analysis using German Socio-Economic Panel data.

We show that social cohesion is part of the causal chain between environmental and built characteristics of a neighbourhood and health, with increasing mediation effect over time for physical health. Social mechanisms should be considered when studying the effect of neighbourhood characteristics on health inequalities making social cohesion as a legitimate target of public health interventions at neighbourhood level.