Reliability, Validity, and Exploratory Factor Analyses of Gentrification Health Research Measures

Abstract Background Gentrification is a type of neighborhood change (NC) that causes demographic shifts and improvement in the built environment. Adverse health outcomes associated with NC have not been consistently established in the literature. Yet, major methodological barriers define this field of study including lack of tailored and culturally relevant measures. This aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of novel and adapted NC measures that sought to improve appropriateness for all literacy levels, to enhance survey efficiency, and to assess features of the built environment. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in a highly gentrifying neighborhood in Washington, DC using 17 scales and indexes on neighborhood attachment, effects on family/friends, perceived impact on certain population, and assessment of intensity of NC. We assessed reliability and validity to include tests of internal consistency, split-half reliability testing, and correlation analyses. We sought dimension reduction through factor analysis to understand areas of NC. Results The analytic sample included 146 respondents. The multiitem scales — Neighborhood Attachment (NA), Ability to Influence Neighborhood Change (AINC), and Heightened Perceptions of Neighborhood Change (HPNC) — performed well based on reliability and validity analyses. The factors analysis resulted in three components on NC: positive perceptions of NC, social dimension of NC, and NC change intensity and decline. Discussion Given the promising psychometric quality of measures, this study opens new pathways for conducting gentrification health research by providing new tools and methods for tailoring.