Megan E Gilster
Biographic Data
| ID | 90327 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Megan E Gilster |
| GIVEN NAMES | Megan E |
| FAMILY NAME | Gilster |
| SIGNATURE | GILSTER M E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Iowa |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9955-2635 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 85 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Differences across intersecting racial, ethnic, and gender identity in the spatiotemporal patterning of suicide clusters in the US from 2005-2020
Suicide rates and spatial clusters have increased since 2005, with distinct patterning between sociodemographic groups. The identification of specific communities that may be at disproportional risk for suicide highlight opportunities to tailor individual- and population-level prevention efforts in emerging high-risk groups
Gender disparities in self-rated health are contingent upon the neighborhood composition in New York City
Food and Housing Insecurity Among Social Work Students
We know little about social work students' experience with financial hardship, especially food and housing insecurity, during their academic programs. This knowledge gap is problematic because food and housing insecurity negatively impact student success. In response, we surveyed 125 social work students of a public, Midwestern U.S. university in 2019 to investigate students' experience with food and housing insecurity, as well as the factors ass…
Neighborhood Tenure, Donated Social Support, and Participation in Low- and Moderate-Income Communities
Understanding what facilitates participation in neighborhood civic life is important for improving participatory interventions, and ultimately improving neighborhoods. The longer someone lives in a neighborhood, the more likely they are to participate in their neighborhood by organizing with neighbors, volunteering, or taking on a leadership role in a neighborhood organization. At the same time, the longer someone lives in a socioeconomically dis…
Assessing the role of ethnic enclaves in the relationship between neighborhood conditions and participation in neighborhood-focused activism among Latinos in Chicago
Latinos in the US often settle in ethnic enclave neighborhoods, which research and theory suggests have residents who are less engaged in neighborhood activism. However, we know little about the relationship between living in a Latino ethnic enclave compared to other types of neighborhoods and engaging in neighborhood-focused activism among Latinos. This study, therefore, investigates whether both neighborhood organizational resources and neighbo…
Exploring two measures of spatial accessibility to organizational resources in a small city
Research has documented neighborhood-level disparities in organizational resources. Organizational resources may meet residents’ needs because, as social organization theory suggests, they generate social ties, establish and enforce local norms, and promote social control. However, few studies have examined access to organizational resources in micropolitan cities, which are important for research on place and inequality because of their growing …
The Spatial Distribution of Organizational Resources and Resident Participation in Civic Life in Chicago Neighborhoods
Building and maintaining participation is an often elusive goal of many community change initiatives. Understanding how the neighborhood context contributes to resident participation can help develop and improve interventions that engage more residents and facilitate participation so that they are more likely to improve neighborhood conditions. This study examines whether neighborhood organizational resources are associated with two forms of part…
Formal and Informal Social Organization
Neighborhood social organization is one way that neighborhoods matter for residents, as well as an intervention opportunity for macro practitioners. Neighborhood social organization encapsulates how neighborhoods differentially organize, both formally and informally. We tested whether neighborhood structural inequality, types of social organization, and spatial clustering were associated with both formal and informal neighborhood social organizat…
Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Neighborhood Context of Mastery
Residents of poor, non-white neighborhoods experience high rates of neighborhood stressors like crime, violence, and disorder. Stress process theory suggests that mastery is important for understanding how neighborhood stressors affect resident mental health. This research examines the relationship between neighborhood stressors and mastery with a focus on racial and ethnic differences in a multi-ethnic sample of Chicago residents. Because Black …
Neighborhood Stressors, Mastery, and Depressive Symptoms
Putting Activism in Its Place
Neighborhood-focused activism is one way residents enact their vision for their community. This study examines the neighborhood socioeconomic antecedents of participation in neighborhood-focused activism in a diverse sample of residents of Chicago neighborhoods to test three theories of neighborhood socioeconomic context and participation: 1) affluence affords participation, 2) activism addresses neighborhood needs associated with disadvantage, a…
Comparing Neighborhood‐focused Activism and Volunteerism
Does participating in neighborhood‐focused activism confer different benefits than volunteering? The engagement of community members in neighborhood civic life has been identified as an important component of safe and healthy communities. Research on community engagement has encompassed voluntary associations, volunteering, as well as participation in neighborhood activism. A diverse set of research suggests that there are psychological and socia…
Neighborhood research from a spatially oriented strengths perspective
Research investigating neighborhood effects on children and families has been largely deficit and individual‐focused, investigated structural variables, and has typically produced equivocal findings and small effect sizes. We suggest an approach focused on community strengths and resources that stresses the role of measures of social interaction variables and the utilization of analytic strategies that model the spatial and nested nature of conte…
Predictors of Neighborhood Satisfaction
Insufficient attention has been devoted to an examination of the factors that predict the level of satisfaction that community residents have with the neighborhoods in which they live. In this paper, we describe a program of research to examine the predictors of neighborhood satisfaction. Data on neighborhoods and individuals in Flint, Michigan were obtained from the 2000 Census and a citywide survey of neighborhood residents. Multilevel models w…
Predictors of Neighborhood Satisfaction
Insufficient attention has been devoted to an examination of the factors that predict the level of satisfaction that community residents have with the neighborhoods in which they live. In this paper, we describe a program of research to examine the predictors of neighborhood satisfaction. Data on neighborhoods and individuals in Flint, Michigan were obtained from the 2000 Census and a citywide survey of neighborhood residents. Multilevel models w…
Comparing Neighborhood‐focused Activism and Volunteerism
Does participating in neighborhood‐focused activism confer different benefits than volunteering? The engagement of community members in neighborhood civic life has been identified as an important component of safe and healthy communities. Research on community engagement has encompassed voluntary associations, volunteering, as well as participation in neighborhood activism. A diverse set of research suggests that there are psychological and socia…
Neighborhood research from a spatially oriented strengths perspective
Research investigating neighborhood effects on children and families has been largely deficit and individual‐focused, investigated structural variables, and has typically produced equivocal findings and small effect sizes. We suggest an approach focused on community strengths and resources that stresses the role of measures of social interaction variables and the utilization of analytic strategies that model the spatial and nested nature of conte…
The Spatial Distribution of Organizational Resources and Resident Participation in Civic Life in Chicago Neighborhoods
Building and maintaining participation is an often elusive goal of many community change initiatives. Understanding how the neighborhood context contributes to resident participation can help develop and improve interventions that engage more residents and facilitate participation so that they are more likely to improve neighborhood conditions. This study examines whether neighborhood organizational resources are associated with two forms of part…
Putting Activism in Its Place
Neighborhood-focused activism is one way residents enact their vision for their community. This study examines the neighborhood socioeconomic antecedents of participation in neighborhood-focused activism in a diverse sample of residents of Chicago neighborhoods to test three theories of neighborhood socioeconomic context and participation: 1) affluence affords participation, 2) activism addresses neighborhood needs associated with disadvantage, a…
Neighborhood Stressors, Mastery, and Depressive Symptoms
Formal and Informal Social Organization
Neighborhood social organization is one way that neighborhoods matter for residents, as well as an intervention opportunity for macro practitioners. Neighborhood social organization encapsulates how neighborhoods differentially organize, both formally and informally. We tested whether neighborhood structural inequality, types of social organization, and spatial clustering were associated with both formal and informal neighborhood social organizat…
Assessing the role of ethnic enclaves in the relationship between neighborhood conditions and participation in neighborhood-focused activism among Latinos in Chicago
Latinos in the US often settle in ethnic enclave neighborhoods, which research and theory suggests have residents who are less engaged in neighborhood activism. However, we know little about the relationship between living in a Latino ethnic enclave compared to other types of neighborhoods and engaging in neighborhood-focused activism among Latinos. This study, therefore, investigates whether both neighborhood organizational resources and neighbo…
Exploring two measures of spatial accessibility to organizational resources in a small city
Research has documented neighborhood-level disparities in organizational resources. Organizational resources may meet residents’ needs because, as social organization theory suggests, they generate social ties, establish and enforce local norms, and promote social control. However, few studies have examined access to organizational resources in micropolitan cities, which are important for research on place and inequality because of their growing …
Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Neighborhood Context of Mastery
Residents of poor, non-white neighborhoods experience high rates of neighborhood stressors like crime, violence, and disorder. Stress process theory suggests that mastery is important for understanding how neighborhood stressors affect resident mental health. This research examines the relationship between neighborhood stressors and mastery with a focus on racial and ethnic differences in a multi-ethnic sample of Chicago residents. Because Black …
Predictors of Neighborhood Satisfaction
Insufficient attention has been devoted to an examination of the factors that predict the level of satisfaction that community residents have with the neighborhoods in which they live. In this paper, we describe a program of research to examine the predictors of neighborhood satisfaction. Data on neighborhoods and individuals in Flint, Michigan were obtained from the 2000 Census and a citywide survey of neighborhood residents. Multilevel models w…
Neighborhood research from a spatially oriented strengths perspective
Research investigating neighborhood effects on children and families has been largely deficit and individual‐focused, investigated structural variables, and has typically produced equivocal findings and small effect sizes. We suggest an approach focused on community strengths and resources that stresses the role of measures of social interaction variables and the utilization of analytic strategies that model the spatial and nested nature of conte…
Comparing Neighborhood‐focused Activism and Volunteerism
Does participating in neighborhood‐focused activism confer different benefits than volunteering? The engagement of community members in neighborhood civic life has been identified as an important component of safe and healthy communities. Research on community engagement has encompassed voluntary associations, volunteering, as well as participation in neighborhood activism. A diverse set of research suggests that there are psychological and socia…
Putting Activism in Its Place
Neighborhood-focused activism is one way residents enact their vision for their community. This study examines the neighborhood socioeconomic antecedents of participation in neighborhood-focused activism in a diverse sample of residents of Chicago neighborhoods to test three theories of neighborhood socioeconomic context and participation: 1) affluence affords participation, 2) activism addresses neighborhood needs associated with disadvantage, a…
Neighborhood Stressors, Mastery, and Depressive Symptoms
Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Neighborhood Context of Mastery
Residents of poor, non-white neighborhoods experience high rates of neighborhood stressors like crime, violence, and disorder. Stress process theory suggests that mastery is important for understanding how neighborhood stressors affect resident mental health. This research examines the relationship between neighborhood stressors and mastery with a focus on racial and ethnic differences in a multi-ethnic sample of Chicago residents. Because Black …
The Spatial Distribution of Organizational Resources and Resident Participation in Civic Life in Chicago Neighborhoods
Building and maintaining participation is an often elusive goal of many community change initiatives. Understanding how the neighborhood context contributes to resident participation can help develop and improve interventions that engage more residents and facilitate participation so that they are more likely to improve neighborhood conditions. This study examines whether neighborhood organizational resources are associated with two forms of part…
Formal and Informal Social Organization
Neighborhood social organization is one way that neighborhoods matter for residents, as well as an intervention opportunity for macro practitioners. Neighborhood social organization encapsulates how neighborhoods differentially organize, both formally and informally. We tested whether neighborhood structural inequality, types of social organization, and spatial clustering were associated with both formal and informal neighborhood social organizat…
Exploring two measures of spatial accessibility to organizational resources in a small city
Research has documented neighborhood-level disparities in organizational resources. Organizational resources may meet residents’ needs because, as social organization theory suggests, they generate social ties, establish and enforce local norms, and promote social control. However, few studies have examined access to organizational resources in micropolitan cities, which are important for research on place and inequality because of their growing …
Assessing the role of ethnic enclaves in the relationship between neighborhood conditions and participation in neighborhood-focused activism among Latinos in Chicago
Latinos in the US often settle in ethnic enclave neighborhoods, which research and theory suggests have residents who are less engaged in neighborhood activism. However, we know little about the relationship between living in a Latino ethnic enclave compared to other types of neighborhoods and engaging in neighborhood-focused activism among Latinos. This study, therefore, investigates whether both neighborhood organizational resources and neighbo…
Neighborhood Tenure, Donated Social Support, and Participation in Low- and Moderate-Income Communities
Understanding what facilitates participation in neighborhood civic life is important for improving participatory interventions, and ultimately improving neighborhoods. The longer someone lives in a neighborhood, the more likely they are to participate in their neighborhood by organizing with neighbors, volunteering, or taking on a leadership role in a neighborhood organization. At the same time, the longer someone lives in a socioeconomically dis…
Food and Housing Insecurity Among Social Work Students
We know little about social work students' experience with financial hardship, especially food and housing insecurity, during their academic programs. This knowledge gap is problematic because food and housing insecurity negatively impact student success. In response, we surveyed 125 social work students of a public, Midwestern U.S. university in 2019 to investigate students' experience with food and housing insecurity, as well as the factors ass…
Gender disparities in self-rated health are contingent upon the neighborhood composition in New York City
Differences across intersecting racial, ethnic, and gender identity in the spatiotemporal patterning of suicide clusters in the US from 2005-2020
Suicide rates and spatial clusters have increased since 2005, with distinct patterning between sociodemographic groups. The identification of specific communities that may be at disproportional risk for suicide highlight opportunities to tailor individual- and population-level prevention efforts in emerging high-risk groups
Psychology (11 works) · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Community Health and Development (6 works) · Geography (6 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (5 works) · Political science (5 works)