Home-made blues: Residential crowding and mental health in Beijing, China

TL;DR

This study investigates how residential crowding in Beijing correlates with mental health, revealing that increased crowding raises depression risk mainly through space-specific stress, especially among certain subgroups.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking residential crowding to depression and identifies specific mechanisms and vulnerable subgroups, highlighting social justice and health implications.

Findings

Crowding significantly increases depression risk.

Space-specific stress mediates the crowding-depression link.

Certain groups are more affected by crowding.

Abstract

Although residential crowding has many well-being implications, its connection to mental health is yet to be widely examined. Using survey data from 1613 residents in Beijing, China, we find that living in a crowded place - measured by both square metres per person and persons per bedroom - is significantly associated with a higher risk of depression. We test for the mechanisms of such associations and find that the residential crowding-depression link arises through increased living space-specific stress rather than increased life stress. We also identify the following subgroups that have relatively stronger residential crowding-depression associations: females, those living with children, those not living with parents, and those living in non-market housing units. Our findings show that inequality in living space among urban residents not only is an important social justice issue but also has health implications.