Cumulative exposure to poor housing conditions and psychological well-being: Does the relationship differ for young and middle-aged adults and older adults?

Abstract

Objectives This study examined whether cumulative exposure to poor housing conditions is negatively associated with psychological well-being, and whether this association varies by age. Methods Using fifteen waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Study between 2005 and 2019 (118,500 person-observations), this study employed fixed-effects regression models to account for unobserved individual-level heterogeneity. Exposure to poor housing conditions ranged from 1 to more than 5 annual waves. To formally test for age heterogeneity, interactive models were estimated. Results The trajectories of change in psychological well-being associated with cumulative exposure to poor housing conditions were different between young and middle-aged adults and older adults. Among young and middle-aged adults, the levels of depressive symptoms increased in the first year of exposure but remained at a similar level since then. In contrast, with the persistence of poor housing conditions, older adults continued to develop greater depressive symptoms over time. Similar age differences were found for life satisfaction. As exposure to poor housing conditions accumulated, life satisfaction persistently declined among older adults, but not young and middle-aged adults. Conclusion This study suggests that cumulative exposure to poor housing conditions has more adverse psychological consequences for older adults than young and middle-aged adults.