Housing Poverty in Seoul Was Linked to More Physical Activity and Higher Depression Risk

A new article published in Preventive Medicine Reports finds housing poverty is linked to increased physical activity and risk of depression for young adults living in single-person households in Seoul, South Korea.

The current work, led by Jihyun Lee of Kyung Hee University, additionally finds that the link between housing poverty, increased physical activity, and higher risk of depression is strongest in males. The authors write:

“The findings reveal that housing cost burden and spatial deprivation were strongly associated with increased physical activity, particularly among males. This supports that limited living space and financial strain may encourage more outdoor activity, either as a coping response or due to lack of space for rest and recreation. However, despite increased physical activity, individuals experiencing housing poverty reported significantly higher depressive symptoms.”

These findings are notable for two reasons. First, this is yet another piece of research linking lack of resources and systemic problems to mental health issues. Second, this study adds nuance to previous research findings that exercise is a useful treatment for depression. It may be the case that exercise is more helpful in treating depression for people with reliable access to resources like housing. In other words, it may not be possible to exercise your way out of poverty-related depression.

The goal of the current work was to investigate links between multidimensional housing poverty, physical activity, and depression. The authors chose to examine young people who live in single-person households due to their disproportionate exposure to housing poverty.

The authors recruited 800 participants, 400 of whom were experiencing housing poverty, using a research firm between October and November 2023. To be eligible for the current study, participants had to be living in Seoul, be 19 – 39 years old, be living in a single-person household for the previous two years, and be living in their current district for at least six months. The sample was representative of the population in terms of sex and age, based on 2022 census data. Data was collected from participants anonymously.

Measures

Housing poverty was measured using both “objective” and subjective factors. Housing poverty has most commonly been defined in Korea using two “objective” measures, cost burden (spending more than 30% of household income on housing) and spatial deprivation (having less space than 14 meters² per person).

The authors added two more subjective measures of household poverty to the current work: housing dissatisfaction and neighborhood dissatisfaction. These variables were measured by asking participants to rate their level of satisfaction on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 4 (very satisfied). The authors decided to use a binary factor of satisfied (answers of 3 and 4) and dissatisfied (1 and 2) for the purposes of analysis. The authors note that these measures were not used to sort participants into the “housing poverty” group, but rather to investigate the varied experiences of participants that fell into that group based on the cost burden and spatial deprivation measures.

Physical activity was measured using the 2021 Korean Community Health Survey, a tool that assesses vigorous, moderate, and strength-training activity. The authors calculated a composite score by averaging the three measured areas. Participants with scores that exceeded the sex-specific mean were categorized as having a “high activity level.”

Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). This self-report survey asks participants how often they experience symptoms of depression on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Scores of 10 or higher indicate moderate to severe depression.

Housing Poverty, Physical Activity, and Depression

Participants experiencing housing poverty had higher levels of physical activity and depressive symptoms compared to their housing-secure counterparts. This was especially true for males, with 57% of housing-insecure males having high physical activity levels (compared to 40% of the housing-secure males) and 40% having moderate to severe depression (compared to 18% of housing-secure males).

These numbers were much closer together for females from the opposing groups, with 50% from the housing insecure group having high physical activity levels (compared to 43% from the housing secure group) and 35% having moderate to severe depression (compared to 29% in the housing secure group).

High levels of physical activity were most strongly associated with experiencing both cost burden and spatial deprivation. Participants experiencing both factors were 2.34 times more likely to engage in high physical activity than those experiencing one or none. While this link was strongest among males (3 times increased odds) it was also fairly strong among females as well (2.28 times increased odds). The authors note that the lower rates of physical activity among females in the current study are driven by increased barriers to regular physical activity, including societal expectations, safety concerns, and accessibility issues.

Housing dissatisfaction showed a weaker association with increased physical activity (odds ratio of 1.65). This link was nearly identical for males and females. Neighborhood dissatisfaction was not related to increased physical activity in the current work.

All measures of housing poverty were associated with increased risk of moderate to severe depression. Participants experiencing housing cost burden were 2.15 times more likely to have moderate to severe depression. This link was especially pronounced for males (3.35 times increased risk of moderate to severe depression) compared to females (1.46).

Those experiencing spatial deprivation in their housing situation were 2.36 times more likely to report moderate to severe depression. This was again especially true for males (3.91) compared to females (1.25).

Participants who were dealing with both cost burden and spatial deprivation in housing were at the highest risk of moderate to severe depression (3.17 times more likely). Males in this group were five times more likely (5.11) to report moderate to severe depression. Females were only 1.76 times more likely to report the same.

Those reporting housing dissatisfaction were at 2.78 times increased risk of having moderate to severe depression. While this was the factor most linked to depression for females (2.18 times more likely), males were still at a disproportionately higher risk (3.76).

Participants who were dissatisfied with their neighborhoods were 3.19 times more likely to report moderate to severe depression. This was the factor most linked to depression in males (6.45 times more likely). Females in this group were 1.57 times more likely to report moderate to severe depression.

Limitations

The authors acknowledge several limitations to the current work. The design means that the data can only speak to associations, not causes. In other words, this work can only say that housing poverty is linked to depression, not that it causes depression. Physical activity levels and depression were measured using self-report surveys. This means the data were susceptible to both desirability bias (participants reporting what is most socially acceptable) and misremembering. Additionally, the data was collected exclusively from participants living in Seoul. Generalizability to other populations is limited.

Previous research has linked housing instability to depression and anxiety in adults and children. Research has also linked poverty and lack of access to resources to poor mental health and psychological distress. Some studies have additionally found that experiencing poverty in childhood is linked to poor mental health later in life.

While previous research has found that exercise lowers depression risk and is a better treatment for depression than antidepressants and cognitive behavior therapy, the current work adds essential context to those findings. While exercise may be able to mitigate depression in people with reliable access to important resources like sufficient housing, the same may not be true for those dealing with resource insecurity.

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Lee, J., & Yoo, S. (2025). Multidimensional Housing Poverty, physical activity, and depression among young single-person households in Seoul, South Korea. Preventive Medicine Reports, 60, 103305. (Link)