How residential environments affect depressive mood and stress among young adults in South Korea: The role of restorativeness

Abstract

Young adults with mental health problem are increasing sharply. Most of them live in cities to work and study, and their everyday environment would have influenced their mental health. However, little is known about these impacts. Green areas are beneficial for mental health, but providing parks in developed cities is challenging. The question arises whether built environment can support mental health.

This study examined how residential environment, including housing and neighborhood environment, help alleviate depressive mood and stress. The survey involved 301 young adults aged 19–34 in Seoul as most Korean young adults move to study and work. Restorativeness was used as a mediating variable, measured by the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used.

Natural environments, including parks and greenery, significantly increase PRS and reduce stress. Results show that housing quality, diversity of commercial facilities, pleasant streetscapes, management, and social infrastructure enhance restorativeness, which in turn reduce stresses, though not alleviating depressive moods. The use of the Entropy Index to objectively measure commercial diversity strengthened the robustness of the analysis. This suggests that young adults' favorite characteristics for commercial facilities were reflected in restorativeness. Furthermore, spending time in a restorative neighborhood environment alleviates the stress and depressive mood of young adults. In contrast, the transportation environment had little impact, indicating the importance of their perception of the built environment. This study highlights the potential of residential environments to foster restorative settings.