@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {9655},
      author = {Stier, Andrew J. and Schertz, Kathryn E. and Rim, Nak Won  and Cardenas-Iniguez, Carlos and Lahey, Benjamin B. and  Bettencourt, Luís M. A. and Berman, Marc G.},
      title = {Evidence and theory for lower rates of depression in  larger US urban areas},
      journal = {PNAS},
      address = {2021-07-27},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      abstract = {It is commonly assumed that cities are detrimental to  mental health. However, the evidence remains inconsistent  and at most, makes the case for differences between rural  and urban environments as a whole. Here, we propose a model  of depression driven by an individual’s accumulated  experience mediated by social networks. The connection  between observed systematic variations in socioeconomic  networks and built environments with city size provides a  link between urbanization and mental health. Surprisingly,  this model predicts lower depression rates in larger  cities. We confirm this prediction for US cities using four  independent datasets. These results are consistent with  other behaviors associated with denser socioeconomic  networks and suggest that larger cities provide a buffer  against depression. This approach introduces a systematic  framework for conceptualizing and modeling mental health in  complex physical and social networks, producing testable  predictions for environmental and social determinants of  mental health also applicable to other psychopathologies.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9655},
}