Economic hardships in adulthood and mental health in Sweden. the Swedish National Public Health Survey 2009

Abstract

BackgroundPossible accumulative effects of a combined economic hardship's measure, including both income and non-income related economic hardships measures, on mental health has not been well investigated. The aim of this paper was to investigate; (i) independent associations between multiple measures of economic hardships and mental health problems, and (ii) associations between a combined economic hardships measure and mental health problems.MethodsWe analysed data from the 2009 Swedish National Survey of Public Health comprising a randomly selected representative national sample combined with a randomly selected supplementary sample from four county councils and three municipalities consisting of 23,153 men and 28,261 women aged 16-84 years. Mental health problems included; psychological distress (GHQ-12), severe anxiety and use of antidepressant medication. Economic hardship was measured by a combined economic hardships measure including low household income, inability to meet expenses and lacking cash reserves.ResultsThe results from multivariate adjusted (age, country of birth, educational level, occupational status, employment status, family status and long term illness) logistic regression analysis indicate that self-reported current economic difficulties (inability to pay for ordinary bills and lack of cash reserves), were significantly associated with both women's and men's mental health problems (all indicators), while low income was not. In addition, we found a statistically significant graded association between mental health problems and levels of economic hardships.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that indicators of self-reported current economic difficulties seem to be more strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes than the more conventional measure low income. Furthermore, the likelihood of mental health problems differed significantly in a graded fashion in relation to levels of economic hardships.

Meddling with middle modalities: a decomposition approach to mental health inequalities between intersectional gender and economic middle groups in northern Sweden

“…There is considerable evidence on mental health differentials between genders and socioeconomic groups (34, 35), including in Sweden (19, 36, 37). In this study, the overall population pattern of mental health across dominant and subordinate middle groups highlights the value of considering middle groups in intersectionality research.…”

“…Nevertheless, processes of oppression, marginalization, and discrimination are still operating in daily life across multiple spheres in Sweden. For example, despite the social welfare systems in place, economical resources are still strongly shaping the mental health of Swedish women and men (19). Moreover, despite high labor market participation for women in Sweden, the gendered division of labor is expressed in women taking an undue share of unpaid domestic work (20).…”

Relationships between Social Anxiety and Mental Health Problems in Early Adolescents from Different Socioeconomic Groups: Results from a Cross-sectional Health Survey in Norway

“…A previous American study of adolescents, states that poor mental health was strongly associated with the individual sense of being disadvantaged [12]. In western communities, the impact of relative poverty also seems to make a difference [1,46]. Related to this, higher educational level seems to convey a feeling of mastery and coping [18].…”

“…If the parents confirm this, the next part of the questionnaire specifies anxiety in several situations like "meeting new people", "eating with others", "speaking in class", "reading for others" or "writing in front of others". Further questions ask: (1) whether anxiety is associated with adults or children (or both) (2), if the anxiety is caused by a fear of being embarrassed in those situations, and (3) if the child is able to get on well enough with the adults and children s/he knows best outside these situations. The final part asks if the children becomes (disturbed/show signs of anxiety) upset or avoid these situations if he or she has to deal with the feared situation.…”

“…Globally, mental health problems represent 4 of the10 leading causes of disability [1]. A growing body of research indicates that the scope of these problems increase in many western countries [2].…”