Role of Control and Social Support in Explaining the Stress of Hassles and Crowding

In a previous study, social hassles in the home, such as arguments and lack of privacy, were associated with greater psychological distress only in people living in crowded homes. Hassles were not related to distress in people in uncrowded homes. The current study undertakes a secondary analysis of these data to understand why household crowding potentiates the negative effects of social hassles on psychological well-being. The aim is to evaluate how two psychosocial variables–perceived control over the residential environment and social support from housemates–might explain the interactive effects of hassles and crowding on psychological distress. The results suggest that decreased perceived control among those who experience both crowding and hassles in the home explains why this subgroup has greater psychological distress. The authors argue that hassles in crowded homes lead to lower perceived control because household crowding constrains one’s ability to avoid or escape from the hassles. Perceived social support from roommates does not account for the interactive effects of hassles and crowding.