Chronic stress and psychological well-being: evidence from Thailand on household crowding.
This paper examines the effect of one form of chronic stress--household crowding--on psychological well-being, as measured by multiple inverse indicators of psychological well-being. We rely on data from a large (n = 2017) random sample of households in Bangkok, Thailand, a context that has a higher level and broader range of crowding than typically found in the United States. Objective household crowding is found to be detrimental to psychological well-being, controlling for a number of background characteristics. The effect of objective crowding is mediated by subjective crowding, which has strong, consistent and direct detrimental effects on well-being. There is no evidence of a gender effect. Extended family households are not uncommon in Bangkok, but the effects of objective and subjective crowding are similar in both two- and three-generation households, as well as in one- and multiple-couple households. The argument that subjective crowding is an effect, rather than a cause, of psychological well-being is examined and rejected. The findings suggest that crowding, as a chronic source of stress, constitutes a major threat to psychological well-being. Although the empirical analyses are based on data from one city, we frame the issue of household crowding in a historical and theoretical context in order to suggest in which cultural settings household crowding is most likely to have detrimental effects on psychological well-being.
Fuller
T D
TD
Department of Sociology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061, USA.
Edwards
J N
JN
Vorakitphokatorn
S
S
Sermsri
S
S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D000342:Affective Symptoms; D015984:Causality; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003441:Crowding / Q000523:psychology*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013785:Thailand