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. 2025 Feb 27:16:1534994.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1534994. eCollection 2025.

Mental health amidst multiple crises: trends and sociodemographic risk factors in Austria's general population

Elke Humer  1   2 , Christoph Pieh  1 , Thomas Probst  3 , Carina Dinhof  3 , Yvonne Schaffler  1 , Marina Zeldovich  2   4
Affiliations

Mental health amidst multiple crises: trends and sociodemographic risk factors in Austria's general population

Elke Humer et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: In recent years, mental health in Austria has faced substantial challenges due to a series of both global and regional crises.

Objective: This study aimed to assess changes in mental health indicators within the Austrian population over time from April 2022 to October 2024 and to identify sociodemographic correlates of poor mental health.

Methods: Two cross-sectional online surveys on representative samples of the Austrian general population were conducted at two timepoints: April 2022 (n = 1,032) and October 2024 (n = 2,025). Mental health indicators, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, alcohol misuse, and stress, were measured using validated scales. Sociodemographic data were collected to examine associations with mental health indicators. Chi-squared tests and t-tests were conducted to compare mental health indicators between 2022 and 2024, and multivariable logistic regression models were applied to examine associations with sociodemographic data.

Results: Clinically relevant symptoms of depression and high stress decreased from 2022 to 2024 (depression from 28.3% to 21.6%, stress from 56.3% to 51.0%; p < 0.01), while other symptoms remained stable. Sociodemographic analysis revealed that female gender, younger age, lower income, unemployment, migration background and lack of partnership were associated with higher odds for several mental health issues.

Conclusions: Findings suggest small improvements in mental health from 2022 to 2024 and identified sociodemographic risk factors linked to mental health vulnerabilities.

Keywords: alcohol misuse; anxiety; depression; inflation; insomnia; pandemic aftermath; socioeconomic factors; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals for the odds of exceeding clinically relevant symptoms by age.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals for the odds of exceeding clinically relevant symptoms by net household income.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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