Depressive symptoms of house-poor persons: Korean panel data evidence.

BACKGROUND: There are no studies researching the relationship between house-poor persons and mental health. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between house-poor status and depressive symptoms.

AIM: To examine the relationship between the house-poor and depressive symptoms according to household income.

METHODS: Data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study were used. House-poor were defined as people having possession with over 10% house-related interest in disposable income. About 7,565 participants over the age of 19 years were followed up from 2011 to 2013. The generalized estimating equations were used for analysis.

RESULTS: Individuals with more house-related debt showed increasingly higher depression scores (possession with under 5% related debt to disposable income β = 0.2024, p = .1544; under 10% β = 0.7030, p = .0008; over 10% β = 1.3207, p < .0001). Individuals possessing houses with over 10% ratio of house-related debts to disposable income had higher depression scores than individuals without house ownership (no possession β = 0.8927, p < .0001).

CONCLUSION: Individuals without houses and individuals owning houses with higher percentages of house-related interests showed higher levels of depressive symptoms. Therefore, this study affirmed that the importance of considering the most vulnerable groups in addressing the mental health of individual.