TY - JOUR

T1 - Housing environment and mental health of Europeans during the COVID-19 pandemic

T2 - a cross-country comparison

AU - Keller, Amelie

AU - Groot, Jonathan

AU - Matta, Joane

AU - Bu, Feifei

AU - El Aarbaoui, Tarik

AU - Melchior, Maria

AU - Fancourt, Daisy

AU - Zins, Marie

AU - Goldberg, Marcel

AU - Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie

AU - Rod, Naja H.

AU - Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine

AU - Varga, Tibor V.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Many studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Throughout the pandemic, time spent at home increased to a great extent due to restrictive measures. Here we set out to investigate the relationship between housing conditions and the mental health of populations across European countries. We analyzed survey data collected during spring 2020 from 69,136 individuals from four cohorts from Denmark, France, and the UK. The investigated housing conditions included household density, composition, and crowding, access to outdoor facilities, dwelling type, and urbanicity. The outcomes were loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Logistic regression models were used, and results were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, living alone was associated with higher levels of loneliness (OR = 3.08, 95% CI 1.87-5.07), and lower life satisfaction (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.05-0.55), compared to living with others. Not having access to an outdoor space and household crowding were suggestively associated with worse outcomes. Living in crowded households, living alone, or lacking access to outdoor facilities may be particularly important in contributing to poor mental health during a lockdown. Addressing the observed fundamental issues related to housing conditions within society will likely have positive effects in reducing social inequalities, as well as improving preparedness for future pandemics.

AB - Many studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Throughout the pandemic, time spent at home increased to a great extent due to restrictive measures. Here we set out to investigate the relationship between housing conditions and the mental health of populations across European countries. We analyzed survey data collected during spring 2020 from 69,136 individuals from four cohorts from Denmark, France, and the UK. The investigated housing conditions included household density, composition, and crowding, access to outdoor facilities, dwelling type, and urbanicity. The outcomes were loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Logistic regression models were used, and results were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, living alone was associated with higher levels of loneliness (OR = 3.08, 95% CI 1.87-5.07), and lower life satisfaction (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.05-0.55), compared to living with others. Not having access to an outdoor space and household crowding were suggestively associated with worse outcomes. Living in crowded households, living alone, or lacking access to outdoor facilities may be particularly important in contributing to poor mental health during a lockdown. Addressing the observed fundamental issues related to housing conditions within society will likely have positive effects in reducing social inequalities, as well as improving preparedness for future pandemics.

KW - POOLED ANALYSES

KW - LONELINESS

KW - ANXIETY

KW - COHORT

KW - METAANALYSIS

KW - DISORDERS

KW - ADULTS

KW - COMMON

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-09316-4

DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-09316-4

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35379838

VL - 12

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

IS - 1

M1 - 5612

ER -