Exploring the association between housing insecurity and mental health among renters: A systematic review of quantitative primary and secondary studies

Mira Talmatzky, Laura Nohr, Christine Knaevelsrud and Helen Niemeyer

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 1, 1-40

Abstract: Adverse social and economic conditions negatively impact mental health and well-being. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present systematic review is the first to investigate the association between housing insecurity and mental health outcomes among renters, with a focus on housing affordability and instability. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted in December 2022 across four databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and ASSIA). Quantitative studies from OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries were eligible for inclusion if they investigated housing insecurity by examining at least one independent variable related to housing affordability and/or instability, and included at least one mental health-related outcome among adult renters. Studies needed to specifically distinguish effects for renters, not simply adjust for tenure or include an interaction. Studies were excluded if they analyzed other forms of housing insecurity, examining residential satisfaction and general health outcomes, or populations other than adult renters (

Date: 2026
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0294222 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 94222&type=printable (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0294222

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294222

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().