Modeling Perceived Stress Changes based on Housing Quality Indices Case Study: Isfahan Metropolis

Introduction and Background: Stress is one of the most important mental disorders. The issue, which has been ignored so far, is the impact of the built environment on mental health indices. Aims: The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between housing quality indices and citizens' mental health in a case study of MoftAbad and Mardavij neighborhoods of Isfahan city. Methodology: descriptive-analytic method together with Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression methods used in this research. Independent variables are qualitative variables of housing that, have been studied in both internal and external dimensions. 8 indices in the internal dimension and 12 others in the external dimension of housing were selected for this study. The dependent variable of the research is perceived stress. To measure stress, the standard perceived stress scale of Cohen et al. (1983) was used which has 14 questions. Conclusion: The results of the research showed that in the mentioned neighborhoods as well as in the whole sample, all independent variables have a significant and inverse relationship with the dependent variable of the research, that is, perceived stress. Finally, it was found that the quality of the internal environment in the neighborhoods of MoftAbad and Mardavij, with the intensity of -0.671 and -0.656 respectively, has a significant relationship with perceived stress and the quality of the external environment in relation with perceived stress in MoftAbad and Mardavij neighborhoods is -0.665 and -0.675 respectively. The results of regression analysis showed generally that variables such as interior design and architecture, indoor green space, received natural light, building quality, diversity of green spaces, inappropriate use of color in space, pavement flooring, and the possibility of pedestrianism, the quality of public spaces, environmental cleanliness and environmental security have the most impact on the stress level of urban residents.