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. 2017 Dec 11;17(1):395.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1561-2.

The association between neighbourhood-level deprivation and depression: evidence from the south african national income dynamics study

Nicholas Dowdall  1   2 , Catherine L Ward  3 , Crick Lund  4   5
Affiliations

The association between neighbourhood-level deprivation and depression: evidence from the south african national income dynamics study

Nicholas Dowdall et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Depression contributes substantially to the burden of disease in South Africa. Little is known about how neighbourhoods affect the mental health of the people living in them.

Methods: Using nationally representative data (N=11,955) from the South African National Income Dynamics Study and the South African Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SAIMD) modelled at small-area level, this study tested associations between neighbourhood-level deprivation and depression, after controlling for individual-level covariates.

Results: Results showed a significant positive association between neighbourhood-level deprivation and depression using the composite SAIMD (β = 0.31 (0.15); p=0.04) as well as the separate deprivation domains. Living environment deprivation (β =0.53 (0.16); p=0.001) and employment deprivation (β = 0.38 (0.13); p=0.004), respectively, were the two most salient domains in predicting this relationship.

Conclusions: Findings supported the hypothesis that there is a positive association between living in a more deprived neighbourhood and depression, even after controlling for individual-level covariates. This study suggests that alleviating structural poverty could reduce the burden of depression in South Africa.

Keywords: CESD-10; Depression; Deprivation; Neighbourhood; South Africa.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval for NIDS was granted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) Commerce Faculty Ethics Committee [19] and this study was approved by the Humanities Research Ethics Committee at UCT.

The NIDS data collectors administered a written informed consent process with all participants, and only proceeded with interviews once this process was complete and they were satisfied that the participant fully understood all aspects of the research. In the case of minors, adult caregivers provided consent on their behalf.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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