Subjective evaluation of home environment and levels of self-reported depression in middle to old age: Results from the HCHS study

TY - JOUR

T1 - Subjective evaluation of home environment and levels of self-reported depression in middle to old age: Results from the HCHS study

AU - Ascone, Leonie

AU - Mascherek, Anna

AU - Weber, Sandra

AU - Fischer, Djo

AU - Augustin, Jobst

AU - Cheng, Bastian

AU - Thomalla, Götz

AU - Augustin, Matthias

AU - Zyriax, Birgit-Christiane

AU - Gallinat, Jürgen

AU - Kühn, Simone

N1 - © 2024 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

PY - 2024/5

Y1 - 2024/5

N2 - OBJECTIVES: The immediate living environment might, like other lifestyle factors, be significantly related to mental well-being. The current study addresses the question whether five relevant subjective home environment variables (i.e., protection from disturbing nightlight, daylight entering the home, safety at home, quality of window views, and noise disturbance) are associated with levels of self-reported depression over and above well-known sociodemographic and common lifestyle variables.METHODS: Data from the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS) were analyzed. In N = 8757 with available PHQ-9 depression data, multiple linear regression models were computed, with demographic data, lifestyle variables, and variables describing the subjective evaluation of the home environment.RESULTS: The model explained 15% of variance in depression levels, with ratings for the subjective evaluation of home environment accounting for 6%. Better protection from disturbing light at night, more daylight entering the home, feeling safer, and perceived quality of the window views, were all significantly associated with lower, while more annoyance by noise was associated with higher levels of self-reported depression. Results did not differ if examining a sample of the youngest (middle-aged participants: 46-50 years) versus oldest (70-78 years) participants within HCHS.CONCLUSION: Beyond studying the role of lifestyle factors related to self-reported depression, people's homes may be important for subclinical levels of depression in middle and older age, albeit the direction of effects or causality cannot be inferred from the present study. The development of a consensus and tools for a standardized home environment assessment is needed.

AB - OBJECTIVES: The immediate living environment might, like other lifestyle factors, be significantly related to mental well-being. The current study addresses the question whether five relevant subjective home environment variables (i.e., protection from disturbing nightlight, daylight entering the home, safety at home, quality of window views, and noise disturbance) are associated with levels of self-reported depression over and above well-known sociodemographic and common lifestyle variables.METHODS: Data from the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS) were analyzed. In N = 8757 with available PHQ-9 depression data, multiple linear regression models were computed, with demographic data, lifestyle variables, and variables describing the subjective evaluation of the home environment.RESULTS: The model explained 15% of variance in depression levels, with ratings for the subjective evaluation of home environment accounting for 6%. Better protection from disturbing light at night, more daylight entering the home, feeling safer, and perceived quality of the window views, were all significantly associated with lower, while more annoyance by noise was associated with higher levels of self-reported depression. Results did not differ if examining a sample of the youngest (middle-aged participants: 46-50 years) versus oldest (70-78 years) participants within HCHS.CONCLUSION: Beyond studying the role of lifestyle factors related to self-reported depression, people's homes may be important for subclinical levels of depression in middle and older age, albeit the direction of effects or causality cannot be inferred from the present study. The development of a consensus and tools for a standardized home environment assessment is needed.

U2 - 10.1002/jclp.23656

DO - 10.1002/jclp.23656

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 38329994

VL - 80

SP - 1115

EP - 1129

JO - J CLIN PSYCHOL

JF - J CLIN PSYCHOL

SN - 0021-9762

IS - 5

ER -