Psychological consequences of infestation of the dwelling unit.

Interview data from a three-wave panel study of the impact of the residential environment upon the psychological well-being of 337 minority women were used to examine the effects of household infestation upon self-reported depression, phobic anxiety, somatization, hostility, and anomia. The findings of cross-sectional and change analyses over the three waves of data point to a stable relationship between rat infestation and a single dimension of psychological well-being, somatization.