KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? The notion of easy-going small-town life, with its picket fences and friendly neighbors, might only be true in the movies.

That’s according to interviews of Kansans conducted in connection with a research project at the Kansas University School of Medicine’s Rural Primary Care Practice and Research program.

The research showed that people living in sparsely populated rural areas and densely populated urban areas tended to be happier than those living in more densely populated rural areas.

“I think part of it has to do with changes over time,” said Dr. Allen Greiner, who directs the program. “What’s happening in rural America is a consolidation of the agriculture industry. It’s tougher for businesses that can stay afloat to be supported, and there’s population shrinkage in those middle-sized counties.”

The 4,600 interviews were conducted in 2001 by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The KU project was based on the results of two questions, one asking how connected a person felt to their community and the other asking how they rated their communities as a place to live.

For the study, counties were divided into five categories — “frontier,” with fewer than six people per square mile; “rural,” with six to 19; “densely settled rural,” with 20 to 39; “semi-urban,” with 40 to 149; and “urban,” with 150 or more.

The study found people living in frontier and rural areas were the most involved in their communities, while those in the densely settled rural areas were the unhappiest. Those in the densely settled rural areas also were more likely to smoke and drink than their counterparts in other categories of counties.

Nineteen Kansas counties fall into the densely settled rural population category. The closest to Lawrence is Jefferson County.

Eileen Filbert, director of the Jefferson County Health Department, said she wasn’t sure whether the residents of her county tended to be unhappier or less healthy than those in other parts of the state.

But with fewer entertainment options, she could understand why that could be the case.

“Without the things to go and do and see, that could happen,” she said. “But as for studies done specifically for Jefferson County, I haven’t seen data for that.”

She also said she thought Jefferson County’s population — closer to the cities of Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka — might give residents a better life than those living in more secluded areas of western Kansas.

“Jefferson County is so surrounded by options,” she said. “We might have happier people because they’re closer to things to do.”

Greiner admits the study is far from comprehensive. Rather, he said, it presents new questions for follow-up studies.

“It’s really an interdisciplinary project,” he said. “We’re trying to get more people involved.”