The impact of household energy poverty on the mental health of parents of young children
Tóm tắt
Energy poverty, typified by cold homes and/or an inability to afford energy bills, presents risks to the mental health of occupants. Parents of young children may be especially susceptible to a mental health toll from energy poverty since they have a significant care obligation and spend much of their day at home.
Data from the Growing Up in Ireland study inform this longitudinal analysis.
A 1.64 greater odds of maternal depression were estimated for households containing young children characterized by energy poverty [P = 0.000; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.31–2.05]. For energy poor households with older children (9 years and above), the odds of maternal depression were also higher [odds ratio (OR) 1.74, P = 0.001; 95% CI: 1.27–2.39]. Fathers of young children had greater odds of depression in energy poor households (OR 1.59, P = 0.002; 95% CI: 1.19–2.12), though the deleterious effect on mental health was not statistically significant for fathers of older children.
Energy poverty increases the likelihood of depression in parents. These findings merit policy attention since a mental health burden is in itself important, and more widely, parental well-being can influence child development and outcomes.
Từ khóa
Tài liệu tham khảo
Farrow, 1997, Time spent in the home by different family members, Environ Technol (United Kingdom), 18, 605
Evans, 2000, An epidemiological study of the relative importance of damp housing in relation to adult health, J Epidemiol Community Health, 54, 677, 10.1136/jech.54.9.677
World Health Organization, 2006, Commission on Social Determinants of Health
Boardman, 1991, Fuel poverty: from cold homes to affordable warmth
Thomson, 2017, Health, well-being and energy poverty in Europe: a comparative study of 32 European countries, Int J Environ Res Public Health, 14, 1, 10.3390/ijerph14060584
Thomson, 2016, Fuel poverty in the European Union: a concept in need of definition?, People Place and Policy Online, 10, 5, 10.3351/ppp.0010.0001.0002
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, 2016, Warmth and Wellbeing Scheme
Beardslee, 1998, Children of affectively ill parents: a review of the past 10 years, J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 37, 1134, 10.1097/00004583-199811000-00012
Perry, 2008, Does treating maternal depression improve child health management? The case of pediatric asthma, J Health Econ, 27, 157, 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2007.03.005
Critchley, 2007, Living in cold homes after heating improvements: evidence from warm-front, England’ s home energy efficiency scheme, Appl Energy, 84, 147, 10.1016/j.apenergy.2006.06.001
Marmot, 2011, The Health Impacts of Cold Homes and Fuel Poverty
Liddell, 2015, Living in a cold and damp home: frameworks for understanding impacts on mental well-being, Public Health, 129, 191, 10.1016/j.puhe.2014.11.007
Anderson, 2012, Coping with low incomes and cold homes, Energy Policy, 49, 40, 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.01.002
Tod, 2016, Understanding influences and decisions of households with children with asthma regarding temperature and humidity in the home in winter: a qualitative study, BMJ Open, 6, 1, 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009636
Gilbertson, 2012, Psychosocial routes from housing investment to health: evidence from England’s home energy efficiency scheme, Energy Policy, 49, 122, 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.01.053
Liddell, 2010, Fuel poverty and human health: a review of recent evidence, Energy Policy, 38, 2987, 10.1016/j.enpol.2010.01.037
Boomsma, 2017, Damp in bathroom. Damp in back room. It’s very depressing! exploring the relationship between perceived housing problems, energy affordability concerns, and health and well-being in UK social housing, Energy Policy, 106, 382, 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.04.011
Butler, 2003, Problems with damp and cold housing among Pacific families in New Zealand, N Z Med J, 116, 1
Murray, 2014, Growing up in Ireland: Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for the Child Cohort (at 9 years)
Thornton, 2013, Growing up in Ireland: Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for the Infant Cohort at Wave One (9 months)
McCrory, 2013, Growing up in Ireland: Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for the Infant Cohort at Wave Two (3 years)
Thornton, 2016, Growing up in Ireland: Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for the Child Cohort at Wave Two (13 Years)
Healy, 2002, Fuel poverty, thermal comfort and occupancy: results of a national household-survey in Ireland, Appl Energy, 73, 329, 10.1016/S0306-2619(02)00115-0
Thomson, 2013, Quantifying the prevalence of fuel poverty across the European Union, Energy Policy, 52, 563, 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.10.009
Bouzarovski, 2015, A global perspective on domestic energy deprivation: overcoming the energy poverty-fuel poverty binary, Energy Res Soc Sci, 10, 31, 10.1016/j.erss.2015.06.007
Lacroix, 2015, Fuel poverty as a major determinant of perceived health: the case of France, Public Health, 129, 517, 10.1016/j.puhe.2015.02.007
Dubois, 2016, Energy affordability and energy inequality in Europe: implications for policymaking, Energy Res Soc Sci, 18, 21, 10.1016/j.erss.2016.04.015
Fahmy, 2011, Predicting fuel poverty at a small-area level in England, Energy Policy, 39, 4370, 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.04.057
Healy, 2004, Housing, Fuel Poverty and Health: A Pan European Analysis
Corman, 2016, Maternal depression as a risk factor for children’s inadequate housing conditions, Soc Sci Med, 149, 76, 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.054
O’Meara, 2016, A review of the literature on fuel poverty with a focus on Ireland, Soc Indic Res, 128, 285, 10.1007/s11205-015-1031-5
Kmietowicz, 2015, GPs should identify and visit people at risk from cold homes, says NICE, BMJ, 350, 10
Robinson, 2018, ‘Getting the measure of fuel poverty’: the geography of fuel poverty indicators in England, Energy Res Soc Sci, 36, 79, 10.1016/j.erss.2017.09.035
DCENR. Warmer homes, 2011, A Strategy for Affordable Energy in Ireland
DCENR. A Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty, 2016, 2016–2019. Dublin: Department of Communications