Abstract
Urban residents’ need to be in control of their home environment can be constrained by perceived uncontrollability of exposure to road traffic noise. Noise annoyance may indicate a psychological stress reaction due to this uncontrollability perception, thereby undermining the restoration process. Environmental resources, such as having access to a quiet side at home and dwelling-related green, may reduce noise annoyance both directly by shielding acoustically and indirectly by enhancing residents’ perceived noise control. We assessed the potential mediating role of perceived noise control in independent and joint associations of road traffic noise exposure (>65 dB Lden) and of an absent dwelling-related environmental resource (three indicators concerning quiet sides and one indicator concerning dwelling-related green) with noise annoyance. In our cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study on elderly urban citizens (N = 1812), we observed a statistically significant indirect effect of noise exposure on noise annoyance through perceived noise control (39%, 95%CI 26–55%). Statistical mediation between indicators of absent environmental resources and noise annoyance was weaker. The potential indirect effect was confirmed for combinations of noise exposure with each of the four indicators of an absent environmental resource. Our findings may call for mitigating noise levels while fostering quietness and green at residents’ homes.
Highlights
The home is meant to be a place where residents ideally should be in control of their immediate environment, to pursue any activity without constraints from external stressors and uncontrollable circumstances, to feel comfortable, safe, and at ease
We have suggested a causal link from chronic noise exposure via perceived uncontrollability of personal noise exposure to noise annoyance [19]
In order to substantiate our statistical analyses, we considered additional predictors of perceived noise control and noise annoyance in accordance with our recently published theoretical model on cognitive-motivational determinants of noise-related health inequities against the background of European Noise policy (END) [19]
Summary
The home is meant to be a place where residents ideally should be in control of their immediate environment, to pursue any activity without constraints from external stressors and uncontrollable circumstances, to feel comfortable, safe, and at ease. The term “perceived control” in this article represents affective attributes, including a sense of control, autonomy, safety, constancy, privacy, retreat, or freedom. In the literature, these aspects of a home are referred to as ontological security [1] or as psychosocial benefits [2,3] and have been related to residential satisfaction [4]. Perceived control at home has been proposed as a mediator in the relationship between housing conditions and mental health [6]. Reduced control at home has been linked to, for example, self-rated poor health [7], unwell-being [4], and depression and anxiety [8]
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