Places Rated Revisited

First, 286 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) were ranked on four indicators of psycho-social pathology: rates of alcoholism, suicide, divorce, and crime. An overall index of psycho-social pathology was also computed from these four scores. Second, the relationship of the pathology indices to social/environmental conditions, such as those used in computing "places rated"-type scores, was investigated. Results indicated high intercorrelations among all pathology indices, providing support for an overall psycho-social pathology construct for geographically-defined metropolitan areas. The relationships between social/environmental conditions and social pathology were inconsistent and, in some cases, contrary to the expectation that better conditions would be associated with less pathology. These latter findings indicate a need for caution when generalizing from objective social/environmental conditions to the psychological quality of life. Finally, there was a positive relationship between the percent of migrants and the rate of psycho-social pathology across SMSAs.