Publication: Chronic stress and psychological well-being: Evidence from Thailand on household crowding
Issued Date
1996-01-01
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ISSN
02779536
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2-s2.0-0030025510
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Mahidol University
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SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Social Science and Medicine. Vol.42, No.2 (1996), 265-280
Suggested Citation
Theodore D. Fuller, John N. Edwards, Sairudee Vorakitphokatorn, Santhat Sermsri Chronic stress and psychological well-being: Evidence from Thailand on household crowding. Social Science and Medicine. Vol.42, No.2 (1996), 265-280. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00089-5 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/17526
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Title
Chronic stress and psychological well-being: Evidence from Thailand on household crowding
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Abstract
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.