A systematic review of the evidence on the effect of the built and physical environment on mental health

Abstract

This paper assesses the strength of the evidence on the impact of the physical environment on mental health and well‐being. Using a systematic review methodology, quantitative and qualitative evaluative studies of the effect of the physical environment on child and adult mental health published in English between January 1990 and September 2005 were sought from citation databases. The physical environment was defined in terms of built or natural elements of residential or neighbourhood environments; mental health was defined in terms of psychological symptoms and diagnoses. A total of 99 papers were identified. The strength of the evidence varied and was strongest for the effects of urban birth (on risk of schizophrenia), rural residence (on risk of suicide for males), neighbourhood violence, housing and neighbourhood regeneration, and neighbourhood disorder. The strength of the evidence for an effect of poor housing on mental health was weaker. There was a lack of robust research, and of longitudinal research in many areas, and some aspects of the environment have been very little studied to date. The lack of evidence of environmental effects in some domains does not necessarily mean that there are no effects: rather, that they have not yet been studied or studied meaningfully.

Neighbourhood vitality and physical activity among the elderly: The role of walkable environments on active ageing in Barcelona, Spain

“…Furthermore, urban settings not only determine PA but also psychological wellbeing and mental health (Fujiwara and Kawachi, 2008;Clark et al, 2007). Studies have demonstrated how mental health depends heavily on social capital (Bowling and Stafford, 2007) and resources that individuals can access through their networks (Fujiwara and Kawachi, 2008).…”

The Urban Built Environment and Associations with Women’s Psychosocial Health

“…3,7,29 But none of the work has been conducted among a pregnant population. While prior work is suggestive, most has estimated the built environment using census data, 23 has not focused on psychosocial status, 3,7,17,22 and has considered a limited range of psychosocial attributes. In an effort to address these limitations, this paper will assess the relationship between the urban built environment and maternal psychosocial status using directly observed neighborhood characteristics and a wide range of psychosocial attributes.…”

Pervasive interactions: a purposive best evidence review with methodological observations on the impact of housing circumstances and housing interventions on adult mental health and well‐being

“…But more commonly researchers have concluded that research methodologies, sampling, instruments of measurement or proxies, and/or the underlying questions are not yet sufficiently specified or suitable (Newman, 2001;Thomson et al, 2001;Weich, 2005;Whitley et al, 2005;Clark et al, 2007).…”