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Cited by 56Health disparities and outcomesHomelessness and Social IssuesHousing Market and Economics

Examining the role of tenure, household crowding and housing affordability on psychological distress, using longitudinal data

Pierse, Nevil, Carter, Kristie, Bierre, Sarah, Law, David, Howden-Chapman, Philippa·2016·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
DOI 10.1136/jech-2015-206716
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Abstract

Background: The association between good mental health and housing circumstances is well established. Tenure, household crowding and housing affordability have all been linked to mental health and psychological distress. These cross-sectional relationships are collinear and confounded, and so provide little information on the possible effects of changing housing circumstance on mental health or psychological distress. To do this longitudinal data are needed. Methods: In this paper we use the longitudinal data from the 11 500 NZ households in the Survey of Families, Income and Employment (SoFIE), conducted in New Zealand from 2002 to 2010. We examine the cross-sectional associations of housing factors on psychological distress and use fixed-effects modelling of longitudinal data to examine any effects of changes in selected housing factors on changes in psychological distress. Results: We show large significant cross-sectional associations between all the housing circumstances and psychological distress. These associations were not present in the fixed-effects models. Only changes in individual deprivation had a significant effect on changes in psychological distress. While a significant effect was found for moves to and from houses with a two-bedroom deficit, the small number of moves of this type means these results are not robust. Conclusions: These results show that the effect of house ownership and housing affordability on psychological distress is likely to be confounded in the cross-sectional models. Therefore, marginal changes to these housing factors are unlikely to yield large reductions in psychological distress. Our results suggest that reductions in psychological distress are more likely to be seen through interventions that target individual socioeconomic deprivation and severe household crowding.

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  • As housing costs are relatively high internationally and consume an increasing proportion of disposable household income, renters have poorer health on most outcome measures of health.

    “As housing costs are relatively high internationally and consume an increasing proportion of disposable household income, renters have poorer health on most outcome measures of health (128).”

    From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [128]

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Authors
Pierse, N., Carter, K., Bierre, S., Law, D., & Howden-Chapman, P.
Affiliations
  • University of Otago (NZ)
  • Treasury (NZ)
  • Department of Public Health, University of Otago (Wellington), Wellington, New Zealand
Corresponding author
Pierse, Nevil
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2016-05-06
Volume
70
Issue
10
Pages
961-966
ISSN
  • 0141-7681 (ISSN-L)
  • 0143-005X
  • 1470-2738
DOI
10.1136/jech-2015-206716
OpenAlex
W2346063287
Cited by
56
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3
FWCI
4.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Housing Market and Economics
Keywords
housing tenure, household crowding, housing affordability, psychological distress, mental health, homeownership, socioeconomic deprivation, confounding
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cross-Sectional Studies, Crowding, Female, Health Surveys, Housing, Humans, Income, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, New Zealand, Ownership, Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, Psychological

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