Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Household Disrepair and the Mental Health of Low-Income Urban Women

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We employ longitudinal survey data from the Welfare, Children, and Families project (1999, 2001) to examine the effects of household disrepair (e.g., living with leaky structures, busted plumbing, broken windows, and pests) on psychological distress among low-income urban women with children. Building on previous research, we adjust for related housing concepts, neighborhood disorder, financial hardship, and a host of relevant background factors. We also formally test the mediating influences of social support and self-esteem. Our cross-sectional analysis indicated that household disrepair is positively associated with recent symptoms of psychological distress. Our longitudinal change score analysis demonstrates two important patterns. First, women living with household disrepair at baseline are not necessarily vulnerable to increases in symptoms of psychological distress over the 2-year study period. Second, women who report an increase in disrepair over the study period are also likely to report a concurrent increase in symptoms of distress. Although social support and self-esteem favor mental health in our cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, these psychosocial resources fail to mediate or explain the association between disrepair and distress.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bashir SA. Home is where the harm is: inadequate housing as a public health crisis. Am J Public Health. 2002; 92: 733–738.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Hartig T, Lawrence RJ. Introduction: the residential context of health. J Soc Issues. 2003; 59: 455–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hartig T, Johansson G, Kylin C. Residence in the social ecology of stress and restoration. J Soc Issues. 2003; 59: 611–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rainwater L. Fear and the house-as-haven in the lower class. J Amer Inst Planners. 1966; 32: 23–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kingsley GT. Housing, health, and the neighborhood context. Am J Prev Med. 2003; 24: 6–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Krieger J, Higgins DL. Housing and health: time again for public health action. Am J Public Health. 2002; 92: 758–767.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Brennan ME, Lancashire R. Association of childhood mortality with housing status and unemployment. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1978; 32: 28–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Stein L. A study of respiratory tuberculosis in relation to housing conditions in Edinburgh; the pre-war period. Br J Soc Med. 1950; 4: 143–169.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Graham NMH. The epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in children and adults: a global perspective. Epidemiol Rev. 1990; 12: 149–178.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Hunt S, McKenna S. The impact of housing quality on mental and physical health. Hous Rev. 1992; 41: 47–49.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Evans GW. The built environment and mental health. J Urban Health Bull NY Acad Med. 2003; 80(4): 536–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Evans GW, English K. The environment of poverty: multiple stressor exposure, psychophysiological stress, and socioemotional adjustment. Child Dev. 2002; 73: 1238–1248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Evans GW, Wells NM, Chan H-YE, Saltzman H. Housing quality and mental health. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000; 68: 526–530.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Blackman T, Harvey J. Housing renewal and mental health: a case study. J Mental Health. 2001; 10: 571–583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hopton JL, Hunt SM. Housing conditions and mental health in a disadvantaged area in Scotland. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1996; 50: 56–61.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Wright PA, Kloos B. Housing environment and mental health outcomes: a levels of analysis perspective. J Environ Psychol. 2007; 27: 79–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Galea S, Ahern J, Rudenstine S, Wallace Z, Vlahov D. Urban built environment and depression: a multilevel analysis. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005; 59: 822–827.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Wells NM, Harris JD. Housing quality, psychological distress, and the mediating role of social withdrawal: a longitudinal study of low-income women. J Environ Psychol. 2007; 27(1): 69–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Jackson L, Langille L, Lyons R, Hughes J, Martin D, Winstanley V. Does moving from a high-poverty to lower-poverty neighborhood improve mental health? A realist review of ‘Moving to Opportunity’. Health Place. 2009; 15: 961–970.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Leventhal T, Brooks-Gunn J. Moving to opportunity: an experimental study of neighborhood effects of mental health. Am J Public Health. 2003; 93: 1576–1582.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Evans GW. Built environment and mental health. J Urban Health. 2003; 80: 536–555.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Evans GW, Wells NM, Moch A. Housing and mental health: a review of the evidence and a methodological critique. J Soc Issues. 2003; 59: 475–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Halpern D. Mental Health and the Built Environment: More than Bricks and Mortar? London: Taylor and Francis; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Kearns A, Hiscock R, Ellaway A, Macintyre S. “Beyond four walls.” The psycho-social benefits of home: evidence from West Central Scotland. Hous Stud. 2000; 15: 387–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Derogatis L. Brief Symptom Inventory 18, Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer System. 2000.

  26. Durden ED, Hill TD, Angel RJ. Social demands, social supports, and psychological distress among low-income women. J Soc Pers Relatsh. 2007; 24: 343–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Rosenberg M. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Blascovich J, Tomaka J. Measures of self-esteem. In: Robinson J, Shaver P, Wrightsman L, eds. Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes. San Diego: Academic; 1991: 115–160.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Ross CE, Mirowsky J. Neighborhood disadvantage, disorder, and health. J Health Soc Behav. 2001; 42: 258–276.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Fertig A, Reingold DA. Public housing, health and health behaviors: is there a connection? J Policy Anal Manage. 2007; 26: 831–859.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Evans GW, Kantrowitz E. Socioeconomic status and health: the potential role of environmental risk exposure. Annu Rev Public Health. 2002; 23: 303–331.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Brown SC, Mason CA, Perrino T, et al. Built environment and physical functioning in Hispanic elders: the role of “Eyes on the Street”. Environ Health Perspect. 2008; 116: 1300–1307.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Johnson D. Two-wave panel analysis: comparing statistical methods for studying the effects of transitions. J Marriage Fam. 2005; 67: 1061–1075.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Clogg C, Petkova E, Haritou A. Statistical methods for comparing regression coefficients between models. Am J Sociol. 1995; 100: 1261–1293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Evans GW, Saltzman H, Cooperman JL. Housing quality and children’s socioemotional health. Environ Behav. 2001; 33(3): 389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Fauth RC, Leventhal T, Brooks-Gunn J. Seven years later: effects of a neighborhood mobility program on poor Black and Latino adults’ well-being. J Health Soc Behav. 2008; 49: 119–130.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Thomson H, Petticrew M, Douglas M. Health impact assessment of housing improvements: incorporating research evidence. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003; 57: 11–16.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Amy M. Burdette & Terrence D. Hill

  2. State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Lauren Hale

Authors
  1. Amy M. Burdette
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Terrence D. Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lauren Hale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy M. Burdette.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Burdette, A.M., Hill, T.D. & Hale, L. Household Disrepair and the Mental Health of Low-Income Urban Women. J Urban Health 88, 142–153 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-010-9529-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-010-9529-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation