Depression during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Are there Differences by Type of Housing and Housing Tenure?

Abstract

Living environment can be a significant factor that increases individual depression during the Covid-19 period. In a special situation where the time spent at home is extended, the characteristics of the house itself may exacerbate the negative psychological state of residents. This is because high-density housing not only makes it difficult to maintain the social distancing, but also increases anxiety of infection from neighbors, which can amplify feelings of depression. Additionally, the overall economic downturn due to the Covid-19 could present more serious potential threat to tenants than to homeowners. With this perspective, this study empirically analyzes the direct and indirect effects of residents’ housing type and housing tenure on depression caused by Covid-19 pandemic through the 2020 Seoul Survey data. Path analysis of the structural equation models is used to explain the complex relationship between variables. In addition, gender and age are classified to determine whether different characteristics appear between each housing and depression. Our results show that living in an apt is negatively related to the residents’ depression. However, findings show that housing tenure is not associated with the depression during the pandemic. The results of this study are meaningful in that we studied how people’s residence is related to depression in the prolonged Covid-19 period by empirical data.