Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare a sample of residents in cohousing communities (n = 180) and inhabitants in traditional neighborhoods (n = 104). During the social isolation that was decreed by the German government due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection was carried out through the Internet. Psychological symptoms and coping strategies were measured, and their differences were investigated by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results showed that residents in cohousing communities have lower levels of depressive, anxiety, compulsive and eating disorders, as well as less use of coping strategies which are based on emotional concealment, problem avoidance, and social withdrawal. Moreover, its inhabitants showed higher levels in the use of social support. It is concluded that living in a cohousing community favors, in comparison with life in traditional neighborhoods, the mental health of its inhabitants.
Highlights
IntroductionThis cooperative lifestyle originated in Denmark in the early 1970s and has spread throughout Scandinavia, Europe, and, more recently, the United States (Cummings & Kropf, 2020)
The aim of this study was to compare a sample of residents in cohousing communities (n = 180) and inhabitants in traditional neighborhoods (n = 104)
In the case of number of years living in the place, the distribution of both groups differed, Kolmogorov-Smirnov p < .05, and a statistically significant difference was found between residents of cohousing communities (MRank = 149.99) and non-residents (MRank = 129.54), U = 8012.000, Z = −2.028, p = .042, r =
Summary
This cooperative lifestyle originated in Denmark in the early 1970s and has spread throughout Scandinavia, Europe, and, more recently, the United States (Cummings & Kropf, 2020) These communities did not emerge as a utopia to create a new way of living and modify social structures, but quite the opposite: Cohousing communities are a result of social changes that are based, among other factors, on the aging of the population and the modified role of women in society (Fedrowitz & Gailing, 2003). Direct strategies address the causes of stress, and indirect strategies attempt to change the intensity of stress or ignore emotions (Eschenbeck, Kohlmann, & Lohaus, 2007; Griffith, Dubow, & Ippolito, 2000; Klein-Heßling & Lohaus, 2002) In this sense, Compas et al (2017) highlight the strategies of emotional suppression, avoidance and denial, since these are related to higher levels of certain psychological symptoms. As stated by the latest study by the World Health Organization (2018), mental and substance use disorders accounted for 20.61% of the YLD, being in the first place, ahead of diseases of the sensory organs with 13.24% and musculoskeletal diseases with 12.86%
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