Asymmetric effects of transitioning into and out of housing hardship on depressive symptoms: Variation by gender and race/ethnicity

초록

Although previous research has shown that housing hardship is associated with decreased psychological health, no study has explored the potential differential impacts of transitioning into and out of hardship. This study examines "asymmetries" in the effects of housing hardship on depressive symptoms and investigates how asymmetric effects vary by gender and race/ethnicity. To separately estimate the impacts of transitions into and out of housing hardship, while accounting for unobserved individual-level heterogeneity, we employ asymmetric fixed effects models, using data from Waves III and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Conventional fixed effects models reveal that housing hardship is positively associated with depressive symptoms (b = 0.673, p < 0.001). The preferred asymmetric fixed effects models show that transitioning into housing hardship has a larger impact on depressive symptoms than transitioning out of it (b = 0.842, p < 0.001 vs. b = -0.465, p < 0.001). This asymmetric effect is more pronounced among men and white individuals. These findings likely reflect distinct underlying stress processes and coping responses across demographic groups. Understanding these asymmetric effects could be a way forward to more deeply understand population health and the structural and social determinants of psychological health.

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