The more the merrier? An exploratory study on housing satisfaction and perceived mental health in a Swedish student population
(2022) PSPR14 20221Department of Psychology
- Abstract
- Much is known regarding the connections between residential environments and mental health, but less so in a Swedish context. Students in higher education have been found to be a vulnerable group in terms of mental health problems, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasised the need to explore how mental health relates to residential environments, as students have spent more time in their homes than before. Thus, the present study firstly aimed to explore satisfaction with multiple physical and social housing attributes, and secondly, to explore associations between perceived mental health and housing satisfaction in a Swedish student population (N = 575), through a self-constructed survey. A 21-item Student Housing Assessment Scale... (More)
- Much is known regarding the connections between residential environments and mental health, but less so in a Swedish context. Students in higher education have been found to be a vulnerable group in terms of mental health problems, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasised the need to explore how mental health relates to residential environments, as students have spent more time in their homes than before. Thus, the present study firstly aimed to explore satisfaction with multiple physical and social housing attributes, and secondly, to explore associations between perceived mental health and housing satisfaction in a Swedish student population (N = 575), through a self-constructed survey. A 21-item Student Housing Assessment Scale (SHAS) and a 5-item Corridor Experience Scale (CES) were constructed and assessed by Principal Component Analysis. Main findings were that students overall showed a high degree of satisfaction with their housing. Moreover, the results suggested a significant, moderate correlation between SHAS and Well-being Scale (VS). Furthermore, students in shared apartments perceived their mental health as better than students living in their own apartment or corridor, whilst also being the most satisfied with their housing. Lastly, international students did not seem to experience the same social gains of corridor living compared to national students. Taken together with a need for replication and future research, our results may suggest several health benefits from co-living in shared apartments, compared to corridors and own apartments. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Mycket är känt gällande kopplingar mellan boendemiljöer och psykisk hälsa,
men hur det ser ut i en svensk kontext är inte lika utforskat. Högskole- och
universitetsstudenter har visat sig vara en sårbar grupp gällande psykisk hälsa, och COVID-19 pandemin har ytterligare belyst behovet av att utforska hur det relaterar till boendemiljöer då studenter spenderat mer tid än tidigare i sina hem. Således undersökte denna studie hur studenter trivdes med sina boenden utifrån olika fysiska och sociala aspekter, och vidare, associationer mellan studenters upplevda psykiska hälsa och boendetrivsel i en svensk studentpopulation (N = 575) med ett egenkonstruerat frågeformulär. Två skalor konstruerades för att besvara studiensfrågeställningar;... (More) - Mycket är känt gällande kopplingar mellan boendemiljöer och psykisk hälsa,
men hur det ser ut i en svensk kontext är inte lika utforskat. Högskole- och
universitetsstudenter har visat sig vara en sårbar grupp gällande psykisk hälsa, och COVID-19 pandemin har ytterligare belyst behovet av att utforska hur det relaterar till boendemiljöer då studenter spenderat mer tid än tidigare i sina hem. Således undersökte denna studie hur studenter trivdes med sina boenden utifrån olika fysiska och sociala aspekter, och vidare, associationer mellan studenters upplevda psykiska hälsa och boendetrivsel i en svensk studentpopulation (N = 575) med ett egenkonstruerat frågeformulär. Två skalor konstruerades för att besvara studiensfrågeställningar; Student Housing Assessment Scale (SHAS), avsedd att med 21 frågor mäta boendetrivsel, och Corridor Experience Scale, bestående av fem frågor, avsedd att mäta sociala aspekter av att bo i korridor. Huvudfynd från den här studien var att studenter överlag trivdes med sina bostäder. SHAS indikerade en signifikant, måttlig korrelation till psykiskt välmående (VS). Studenter i delad lägenhet tycktes uppleva sin psykiska hälsa som bättre i jämförelse med i egen lägenhet eller korridor, samt var mest nöjda med sitt boende. Slutligen tycktes internationella studenter inte uppleva samma sociala fördelar av att bo i korridor som nationella studenter. Sammantaget, med ett behov av replikation av dessa fynd och vidare forskning, kan det tänkas finnas flera hälsofördelar av att bo i delad lägenhet i jämförelse med egen lägenhet och korridor. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9088521
- author
- Carlgren, Hanna LU and Ohtonen, Sonja LU
- supervisor
-
- Elinor Schad LU
- organization
- course
- PSPR14 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- student housing, mental health, residential satisfaction, place attachment, shared housing
- language
- English
- id
- 9088521
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-14 13:19:39
- date last changed
- 2022-06-14 13:19:39
@misc{9088521,
abstract = {{Much is known regarding the connections between residential environments and mental health, but less so in a Swedish context. Students in higher education have been found to be a vulnerable group in terms of mental health problems, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasised the need to explore how mental health relates to residential environments, as students have spent more time in their homes than before. Thus, the present study firstly aimed to explore satisfaction with multiple physical and social housing attributes, and secondly, to explore associations between perceived mental health and housing satisfaction in a Swedish student population (N = 575), through a self-constructed survey. A 21-item Student Housing Assessment Scale (SHAS) and a 5-item Corridor Experience Scale (CES) were constructed and assessed by Principal Component Analysis. Main findings were that students overall showed a high degree of satisfaction with their housing. Moreover, the results suggested a significant, moderate correlation between SHAS and Well-being Scale (VS). Furthermore, students in shared apartments perceived their mental health as better than students living in their own apartment or corridor, whilst also being the most satisfied with their housing. Lastly, international students did not seem to experience the same social gains of corridor living compared to national students. Taken together with a need for replication and future research, our results may suggest several health benefits from co-living in shared apartments, compared to corridors and own apartments.}},
author = {{Carlgren, Hanna and Ohtonen, Sonja}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The more the merrier? An exploratory study on housing satisfaction and perceived mental health in a Swedish student population}},
year = {{2022}},
}