Psychological effects of mould and damp in the home: scoping review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Screening process.

Table 1. Univariate and multivariate associations between damp/mould and psychological outcomes.

Study	Significant univariate association between mould/damp and psychological wellbeing?	Significant association between mould/damp in the home and psychological wellbeing after adjusting for confounding variables?	Confounding variables included in model	Other housing-related variables independent predictors of psychological outcomes?*
Baird et al. (2022)	✓	✓	Ethnicity, sex, autism spectrum disorder, family structure, poverty, maternal depression	High spatial density, access to private green space, air pollution, urbanicity/rurality of the area
Blackman et al. (2001)	X	X	Chronic respiratory ill-health, age, serious draughts, perceived safety of the area	Household type, overcrowding, housing tenure, dwelling type, happiness with home, ability to keep warm, draughts, vermin, various housing defects, perception of the area, dislikes about the area, safety of the area, burglary in past year
Blay et al. (2019)	–	–	–	–
Boomsma et al. (2017)	✓	X	Affordability concerns, gender	–
Bower et al. (2021)	X (anxiety) ✓(depression) ✓(loneliness)	X (anxiety) X (depression) ✓ (loneliness)	Perceived neighbourhood-belonging, demographic characteristics (age, gender, birth country, sexuality/gender identity, relationship status, education, employment, household income, lifetime mental health diagnoses, past homelessness)	Access to outdoor space, natural light (depression, loneliness), internet access, frequency of noise bothering people at home (anxiety, depression, loneliness), perceived affordability of housing (depression, loneliness), dwelling type
Butler & Sherriff (2017)	–	–	–	–
Butler et al. (2003)	✓	✓	Age, ethnicity, education, marital status, birthplace, number of years lived in New Zealand, household income	Cold home
Casas et al. (2013)	✓	✓	Cohort, region, sex, parental education, child age, maternal age at birth, time spent in front of TV/computer, older siblings, asthma, environmental tobacco smoke, single mother, pet ownership	Pet ownership
Groot et al. (2022)	✓	–	–	–
Guite et al. (2006)	✓	X	Age, sex, requesting re-housing, housing benefit, house ownership type, number of children in the household, employment	Not liking the look of the estate/road, neighbour noise, over-crowdedness, dissatisfaction with green spaces, dissatisfaction with community facilities, dissatisfaction with social and entertainment facilities, feeling unsafe to go out in the day or night, needles and syringes left around, not enough places to stop and chat, not enough events to get people together; dissatisfaction with light, dissatisfaction with heat, dissatisfaction with draught, maintenance of grassy areas, maintenance of trees/flowers, maintenance of entrances, maintenance of play areas, age of housing, number of storeys, street noise, noise in the home, type of brickwork/frame, sport/exercise facilities, shopping facilities, insufficient street lights, vandalism, graffiti, abandoned cars, rubbish, agreement with whether people could influence decisions
Hopton & Hunt (1996)	✓	✓	Chronic illness, living in a low-income household, living with children under 16, being unemployed, moved to current dwelling because of ill health	–
Hyndman (1990)	✓	✓	Age, sex, smoking, class, dusty occupations	–
Kang et al. (2022)	X	–	–	–
Karunanayake et al. (2021)	✓ (visible mould) X (dampness, mouldy smell)	✓ (visible mould)	Sex, age, body mass index, trouble going to sleep or staying asleep	Dampness, mouldy smell, smoke inside house, crowding, sleeping arrangement, afraid to sleep in the home
Kilburn (2003)	✓	–	–	–
Kilburn (2009)	✓	–	–	–
Martin et al. (1987)	✓	✓	Number of children in the household, cigarette smoking in house	–
Midouhas et al. (2019)	✓	–	–	–
Nasim (2022)	✓	✓	Housing type, family size, number of older siblings, housing quality (damp and mould, living and bedroom temperature, overcrowding, pests, water leaks, satisfaction with home); neighbourhood quality (social networks, extent to which crime affects their life) – individual statistics not presented, but decomposition analysis of mediators suggested 40% of the indirect effect via housing quality was captured by damp and mould	–
Oudin et al. (2016)	X	–	–	–
Packer et al. (1994)	✓	X	Age, sex, social class	–
Paterson et al. (2018)	✓	X	Ethnicity, marital status, education, employment	House too small, hard to get to from the street, in poor condition, too cold or difficult to heat, presence of pests such as mice or insects, too expensive, any other unspecified housing problem
Platt et al. (1989)	✓ (‘bad nerves’) X (depression)	✓ (‘bad nerves’) X (depression)	Economic position, cigarette smoking, length of time at the address, other housing problems (or cold alone), household income	–
Seppala et al. (2022)	–	–	–	–
Serjeant et al. (2022)	–	–	–	–
Shenassa et al. (2007)	✓	✓	Perception of control over one’s home, physical health	Crowding, ventilation, natural light, heating, perception of control, exposure to cigarette smoke
Shortt & Rugkåsa (2007)	–	–	–	–
Wen & Balluz (2011)	✓	✓	Age, sex, education level, employment, state, chronic disease	–
World Health Organization (2007)	✓	✓	Age, gender, length of residency, socioeconomic status, tobacco smoke exposure	Number and quality of green areas, dust, satisfaction with light in the home, building age, urbanisation, traffic noise, feeling insecure in the area at night
Ziersch et al. (2017)	–	–	–	–

* Significant independent predictors of psychological outcomes are presented in bold.

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