Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Health, Room 5010, Level 5, McAuley Building, The Mater, Edith Street, Waratah, P.O. Box 833, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2011 Dec;46(12):1331-42. doi: 10.1007/s00127-010-0305-0. Epub 2010 Nov 3.
The individual and contextual factors influencing current mental health and well-being within rural communities are poorly understood.
A stratified random sample of adults was drawn from non-metropolitan regions of NSW, Australia. One-quarter (27.7%) of the 2,639 respondents were from remote/very remote regions. An aggregate measure of current well-being was derived from levels of distress and related impairment (Kessler-10 LM), self-reported overall physical and mental health, functioning, satisfaction with relationships, and satisfaction with life. Multivariate methods investigated the contributions to current well-being of demographic/dispositional factors, recent events and social support, individual exposure to rural adversity, and district/neighbourhood level characteristics.
Respondents from very remote regions tended to be younger and have lower education. Univariate associations were detected between well being and exposure to rural adversity (greater drought-related worry, lower perceived service and support availability, greater number of years living in the current district). Multivariate analysis (n = 2,462) accounted for 41% of the variance in well-being scores. The major contributing variables were dispositional factors (trait neuroticism, marital status), recent adverse events and indices of social support. However, no additional effects were detected for district-level variables (drought severity, regional socioeconomic categorisation, population change). Similar associations were detected using the K-10 alone as the outcome measure.
The chief determinants of current well being were those reflecting individual level attributes and perceptions, rather than district-level rural characteristics. This has implications for strategies to promote well being within rural communities through enhancing community connectedness and combating social isolation in the face of major adversities such as drought.
个体和环境因素对农村社区当前的心理健康和幸福感的影响知之甚少。
从澳大利亚新南威尔士州非大都市地区抽取了成年人的分层随机样本。2639 名受访者中有四分之一（27.7%）来自偏远/非常偏远地区。当前幸福感的综合衡量标准来自于困扰程度和相关障碍（Kessler-10 LM）、自我报告的整体身心健康、功能、人际关系满意度和生活满意度。多变量方法调查了人口统计学/性格因素、近期事件和社会支持、个体对农村逆境的暴露以及地区/邻里水平特征对当前幸福感的贡献。
来自非常偏远地区的受访者往往年龄较小，受教育程度较低。在幸福感和农村逆境暴露之间发现了单变量关联（与干旱相关的担忧程度更高、感知服务和支持的可用性更低、在当前地区生活的年数更多）。多变量分析（n=2462）解释了幸福感得分 41%的方差。主要贡献变量是性格因素（特质神经质、婚姻状况）、近期不利事件和社会支持指数。然而，在地区层面的变量（干旱严重程度、区域社会经济分类、人口变化）方面没有发现额外的影响。使用 K-10 作为单一的结果测量也检测到了类似的关联。
当前幸福感的主要决定因素是反映个人层面属性和认知的因素，而不是地区层面的农村特征。这对通过增强社区联系和在面临重大逆境（如干旱）时打击社会隔离来促进农村社区幸福感的策略产生了影响。
