Effects of Crowding in Bangkok

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Abstract Research on mammals, such as various types of rats and deer, has shown crowding to be associated with a variety of deleterious consequences for the overcrowded animals. In sociological theory, crowding (or density) has also been thought to be associated with adverse social consequences. However, among humans, studies of crowding in the United States and in Canada have produced inconsistent results. Different study results may be due to the fact that crowding in North America tends to vary only from low to moderate when viewed in global terms. Perhaps there is a crowding "threshold;" that is, some number of persons per household above which the adverse effects of crowding may be observed. Bangkok, Thailand is a highly appropriate site in which to conduct this type of research because of the extreme rates of crowding found in some Thai communities. This study brings together American and Cambodian research teams. Their survey, in metropolitan Bankok, will assess whether a greater density of persons in households is associated with more stress related physical illnesses (e.g. hypertension, angina) and greater tension between spouses and between parents and children. The investigators' crowding--stress model will be assessed with Lisrel analysis.