Abstract
The financial crisis has caused an exponential increase of home foreclosures in Spain. Recent studies have shown the effects that foreclosures have on mental and physical health. This study explores these effects on a sample of adults in the city of Granada (Spain), in terms of socio-demographic, socio-economic and process characteristics. A cross-sectional survey was administered to obtain information on self-perceived changes in several indicators of physical and mental health, consumption of medications, health-related behaviors and use of health services. A total of 205 persons, going through a foreclosure process, participated in the study. 85.7% of the sample reported an increase of episodes of anxiety, depression, and stress; 82.6% sleep disturbances; 42.8% worsening of previous chronic conditions, and 40.8% an increase in consumption of medication. Women, married persons and persons already in the legal stage of the foreclosure process reported higher probability of worsening health according to several indicators, in comparison with men, not married, and individuals in the initial stages of the foreclosure process. The results of this study reveal a general deterioration of health associated with the foreclosure process. These results may help to identify factors to prevent poor health among populations going through a foreclosure process.
Highlights
The global financial crisis, which started in 2008, was closely linked to the housing market and has had a strong impact in Spain
We present here the results describing the changes in the health status of the study participants, attributable to the foreclosure process
A total of 205 respondents affected by a foreclosure process took part in the study, of whom 59.5%
Summary
The global financial crisis, which started in 2008, was closely linked to the housing market and has had a strong impact in Spain. This impact was not homogeneous, since it affected the Spanish Mediterranean regions, such as Andalusia, to a much greater extent. This greater impact was due to the enormous role that housing construction has in the economy and employment in these regions, which are closely associated with tourist activities [1]. The median home construction for all Spanish regions was 25,000 new homes [2]. The increase in unemployment from 13.8% in 2008 to 22.4% in 2015, the rise in the number of households with no income from 2.12% in 2007 to 3.5% in 2012, and the progressive worsening of child poverty according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) [3,4] are factors which have led to
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