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. 2015 Jun;206(6):461-5.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.147280. Epub 2015 Mar 19.

Socioeconomic gradients and mental health: implications for public health

Sarah Stewart-Brown  1 , Preshila Chandimali Samaraweera  1 , Frances Taggart  1 , Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala  1 , Saverio Stranges  1
Affiliations

Socioeconomic gradients and mental health: implications for public health

Sarah Stewart-Brown et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Research on mental well-being is relatively new and studies of its determinants are rare.

Aims: To investigate whether the socioeconomic correlates of mental well-being mirror those for mental illness.

Method: Using logistic regression analyses, the independent odds ratios of high and low mental well-being, compared with middle-range mental well-being, were estimated for a number of sociodemographic variables known to be associated with mental illness from 13 983 participants in the 2010 and 2011 Health Surveys for England.

Results: Independent odds ratios for low mental well-being were as expected from studies of mental illness with increased odds for the unemployed (OR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.01-2.10) and those aged 35-54 years (OR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.35-1.84) and reduced odds for the married (OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.97). A linear trend was observed with education and equivalised income. Odds ratios for high mental well-being differed from those for low mental well-being with regard to age (55+ years: OR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.23-1.79); employment status where there was an association only with retirement (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.09-1.69); education where there was no association; and equivalised income for which the association was non-linear.

Conclusions: Odds ratios for low mental well-being mirrored those for mental illness, but not those for high mental well-being, suggesting that the socioeconomic factors associated with positive mental health are different from those associated with mental illness.

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