The Relationship between Physical Environment and Mental Health of the Urban and Rural Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the physical environment and mental health of the adolescents in urban and rural areas. This study was performed using the questionnaire survey method. The research subjects were high school students in Seoul and Jeollabuk-do rural areas. The questionnaire inquired about the housing, neighborhood, and school environments, and these contents were depended on previous studies. The survey was conducted from August 27 to September 6, 2013, and 446 data were collected. They were analyzed with the SPSS 12.0 program. The main results are as follows. 1) The urban adolescents evaluated physical environment to be better than rural adolescents. Specifically, the urban adolescents evaluated 'facility/accommodation', 'security/health', 'amenity' of the housing environment, 'disorder', 'comfortability', 'nature awareness' of the neighborhood environment, and 'noise', 'overcrowding', and 'security' of the school environment to be higher. 2) The urban adolescents' self-esteem was significantly higher than rural ones. 3) The physical environment factors, which had effects on adolescents' mental health, are different depending on the areas, and so adolescents' physical environment would be designed by the local environment conditions.

How Does the Built Environment in Compact Metropolitan Cities Affect Health? A Systematic Review of Korean Studies

“…The mental health-related variables included prevalence of mental illness and levels of depression, stress, and self-esteem. Of these, depression was used in four studies as a measure of mental health [25,28,30,37]. The social health-related variables were the social activity level, including frequency of social activity, perception of social trust, networks, reciprocity, and social participation among local residents.…”

“…Although positive associations between the street environment and mental health and social health were reported, the consistency of associations was not determined based on only three studies [25,37,43]. The pleasantness of the street environment was correlated with reduced depression and increased social interaction and participation [37,43]. Pleasant streets were an attractive place in the community, providing pedestrian emotional ventilation and opportunities for social interaction.…”

“…The higher density and shorter distance of welfare centers were correlated with reduced depression [25]. Perceiving sport facilities and stores as convenient and pleasant had a positive effect on reducing depression [37]. Additionally, the level of social interaction, social trust, and social reciprocity increased the more urban residents perceived their neighborhood facilities as safe and accessible [25,42,43].…”

“…These health equity issues had a greater impact on vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly. As the accessibility of the BE decreased, vulnerable groups became less healthy because of the increased cost and effort burdens required to engage in healthy behaviors and social relationships [25,35,37,47,50].…”

Factors Influencing Fertility Intentions of Newlyweds in South Korea: Focus on Demographics, Socioeconomics, Housing Situation, Residential Satisfaction, and Housing Expectation

“…Non-metropolitan residents had a 1.369 times higher fertility plan than residents in metropolitan areas. This can be interpreted as being a result of economic factors, such as high housing costs, child support expenses, education expenses, and income instability, despite the relatively large proportion of young people in their 20s and 30s living in metropolitan areas [10,[16][17][18]. Bold values denote statistical significance at the a: p < 0.05, b: p < 0.01, and c: p < 0.001 levels.…”