Impact of house price growth on mental health: Evidence from China

Quantitative evaluation of urban green exposure and its impact on human health: A case study on the 3-30-300 green space rule

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Urban green spaces offer various health benefits, yet the impact of comprehensive green exposure criteria on multidimensional health remains unclear. The 3-30-300 green space rule represents the green exposure indicators with specific thresholds. This study aims to quantitatively evaluate urban green exposure in cities and can support investigation of its relationship with human health.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study based on 902 investigated individuals in 261 residential locations aged 11-95 years from Xiamen City, China. 3-30-300 green exposure was calculated using field surveys, GIS, and Baidu Maps Application Programming Interface (API). Physical health data was based on Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)-2. Mental health was from the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Social health was from a self-constructed evaluation questionnaire. Statistical analyses were conducted using Geographically Weighted Regression and Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression for global and local effects on green exposure and multidimensional health.

RESULT

Among the investigated individuals, only 3.55 % (32/902) fully meet the 3-30-300 rule in Xiamen. Global results show that individuals achieved at least 30 % vegetation coverage (Yes) is associated with better physical (β: 0.76, p < 0.01) and social (β: 0.5, p < 0.01) health. GWLR global results indicate that individuals can "see at least 3 trees from home" meeting one (OR = 0.46, 95%CI: 0.25-0.86, p < 0.05) or two (OR = 0.41, 95%CI: 0.22,0.78, p < 0.01; OR = 0.24, 95%CI: 0.07-0.77, p < 0.05) 3-30-300 rule components are significantly associated with reduced medical visits and hospitalizations refer to not met these criterias. In the GWR local analysis, achieved 30 % vegetation cover is significantly related to improved social health at all locations. Meeting any two indicators also contribute to improved social health (n = 511, β: 0.46-0.51, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Green exposure indicators based on the 3-30-300 rule guiding healthy urban green space development. We observed multidimensional health benefits when 1/3 or 2/3 of the indicators were met.

The impact of housing prices on residents' health: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Rising housing prices are becoming a top public health priority and are an emerging concern for policy makers and community leaders. This report reviews and synthesizes evidence examining the association between changes in housing price and health outcomes.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic literature review by searching the SCOPUS and PubMed databases for keywords related to housing price and health. Articles were screened by two reviewers for eligibility, which restricted inclusion to original research articles measuring changes in housing prices and health outcomes, published prior to June 31st, 2022.

RESULTS

Among 23 eligible studies, we found that changes in housing prices were heterogeneously associated with physical and mental health outcomes, with multiple mechanisms contributing to both positive and negative health outcomes. Income-level and home-ownership status were identified as key moderators, with lower-income individuals and renters experience negative health consequences from rising housing prices. This may have resulted from increased stress and financial strain among these groups. Meanwhile, the economic benefits of rising housing prices were seen to support health for higher-income individuals and homeowners - potentially due to increased wealth or perception of wealth.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the associations identified in this review, it appears that potential gains to health associated with rising housing prices are inequitably distributed. Housing policies should consider the health inequities born by renters and low-income individuals. Further research should explore mechanisms and interventions to reduce uneven economic impacts on health.

How Do Housing Prices Affect Residents' Health? New Evidence From China

This paper aims to explore the effect and mechanism of rising housing prices on residents' physical and mental health. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies from 2014 to 2018, we investigate the impact and mechanism of rising housing prices on the mental and physical health of urban residents through multiple grouping regression and analysis of variance. The study finds that overall, rising housing prices have a positive effect on residents' mental health but a negative effect on physical health, and those who do not own a house show the greatest adverse effect. The impact of rising housing prices on health is mainly reflected in three aspects: the wealth effect, cost effect, and comprehensive environmental expectation effect. Of these, the wealth effect and comprehensive environmental expectation effect play a role in promoting residents' health, whereas the cost effect has a strong inhibitory effect. This paper also analyzes how house prices impact health and finds that having health insurance reduces residents' active health behavior, thus affecting their physical and mental health levels, which has a positive effect on uninsured residents.

Effects of tree canopy on psychological distress: A repeated cross-sectional study before and during the COVID-19 epidemic

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 epidemic period, people showed a stronger connection to the environment within their communities. Although tree canopy in residential areas has been shown to positively affect psychological distress, it is not clear whether the COVID-19 epidemic played a role in this process. Elucidation of the relationship between tree canopy and the impact on psychological distress during the COVID-19 epidemic could provide valuable information as to the best methods to help individuals cope with urban mental stress events.

METHODS

A total of 15 randomly selected residential areas of Beijing were enrolled in this repeated cross-sectional study. A total of 900 residents were included in the two-waves of the investigation (450 residents per wave) before and during the COVID-19 epidemic (i.e., May 2019 and May 2020). Psychological distress was estimated using the 12-question General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Tree canopy coverage (TCC) was measured through visual interpretation based on the 2013 data sources (World View 2 satellite imagery of Beijing urban areas with a resolution of 0.5 m). The demographic characteristics, distance to the nearest surrounding green or blue space, residential area house price, household density, and construction year were also collected in this study. A multivariate logistic regression, relative risk due to interaction (RERI), and synergy index (SI) were used to explore the relationships among tree canopy, COVID-19, and psychological distress.

RESULTS

The negative impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on mental health was significant, with the prevalence of psychological distress increased 7.84 times (aOR = 7.84, 95% CI = 4.67-13.95) during the COVID-19 epidemic period. Tree canopy coverage in the group without psychological distress was significantly higher than that of the psychologically distressed group (31.07 ± 11.38% vs. 27.87 ± 12.97%, P = 0.005). An increase in 1% of TCC, was related to a 5% decrease in the prevalence of psychological distress (aOR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.93-0.98). An antagonism joint action between tree canopy and the COVID-19 epidemic existed (RERI = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.72-1.47; SI = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.05-0.52), and persisted enhancing only in medium (26.45%-33.21%) and above TCC level. Correlation of GHQ items and TCC significantly differed between the COVID-19 non-epidemic and epidemic periods, with the effects of tree canopy on GHQ-12 items covering topics, such as social function and depression, presumably absent because of epidemic limitations.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that the COVID-19 epidemic harmed mental health and verified the positive effects of residential tree canopy on psychological distress in Beijing. We suggest paying more attention to residents in areas of low TCC and dealing with psychological distress caused by public health stress events based on tree canopy strategies.

Investigating Young Employee Stressors in Contemporary Society Based on User-Generated Contents

Understanding stressors is an effective measure to decrease employee stress and improve employee mental health. The extant literature mainly focuses on a singular stressor among various aspects of their work or life. In addition, the extant literature generally uses questionnaires or interviews to obtain data. Data obtained in such ways are often subjective and lack authenticity. We propose a novel machine–human hybrid approach to conduct qualitative content analysis of user-generated online content to explore the stressors of young employees in contemporary society. The user-generated online contents were collected from a famous Q&A platform in China and we adopted natural language processing and deep learning technology to discover knowledge. Our results identified three kinds of new stressors, that is, affection from leaders, affection from the social circle, and the gap between dream and reality. These new identified stressors were due to the lack of social security and regulation, frequent occurrences of social media fearmongering, and subjective cognitive bias, respectively. In light of our findings, we offer valuable practical insights and policy recommendations to relieve stress and improve mental health of young employees. The primary contributions of our work are two-fold, as follows. First, we propose a novel approach to explore the stressors of young employees in contemporary society, which is applicable not only in China, but also in other countries and regions. Second, we expand the scope of job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, which is an important framework for the classification of employee stressors.

Impact of changes in housing tenure and affordability status on depressive symptoms: Evidence from a longitudinal study

INTRODUCTION

Housing is an important social determinant of health. We investigated effects of changes in housing tenure and affordability on depressive symptoms.

METHODS

Data of 9,956 individuals aged >20 years from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (2015-2020) were analyzed. Housing tenure was categorized as homeowners or tenants. Individuals with housing-related expenditures exceeding 30% of household income were defined as having housing unaffordability. Analyses using generalized estimating equations were conducted to evaluate the relationship between changes in housing tenure and affordability on depressive symptoms measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

RESULTS

Individuals who became tenants (β = 0.326, p = 0.027) or were persistent tenants (β = 0.542, p<0.001) demonstrated significantly more severe depressive symptoms than persistent homeowners. Individuals with new (β = 0.562, p < 0.001) or consistent housing unaffordability (β = 1.032, p = 0.036) showed increased depressive symptoms compared with those with persistent housing affordability. Depressive symptoms were reduced in new homeowners and those who left housing unaffordability status (β = -0.807, p = 0.031). The interaction between housing tenure and affordability on depressive symptoms differed by age and household composition. Housing tenure at post-retirement age and single-person households were associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms, respectively.

LIMITATIONS

All housing-related factors, especially different domains of housing insecurity including unstable neighborhoods or reasons for moving, have not been identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in housing tenure, affordability, and the two combined were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the degree of interactive effect varied among age groups and household composition. Housing welfare policies that can stabilize housing tenure and affordability might help prevent depression.