Association of the Built Environment With Childhood Psychosocial Stress

Key Points Question Are environmental exposures, including artificial light at night (ALAN), near-roadway air pollution, noise, green space, and secondhand smoke, associated with childhood psychosocial stress? Findings In this cohort study of 2290 children, perceived stress was significantly associated with increased ALAN, near-roadway air pollution, and exposure to secondhand smoke at home, while residential green space appeared to partially mitigate the associations with these factors. Income appeared to modify the ALAN effect size estimate and sleep duration to partially mediate the associations between stress and both green space and ALAN. Meaning Reducing artificial light and air pollution exposures by increasing green spaces may be associated with improvements in children’s mental health.