Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 11405-87 Ave, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada.
Child Development Centre, University of Calgary, 3820-24 Avenue NW, Calgary, AB T2M 1Z7, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 1;19(7):4208. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19074208.
Depression is a major public health concern among expectant mothers in Canada. Income inequality has been linked to depression, so interventions for reducing income inequality may reduce the prevalence of maternal depression. The current study aims to simulate the effects of government transfers and increases to minimum wage on depression in mothers. We used agent-based modelling techniques to identify the predicted effects of income inequality reducing programs on maternal depression. Model parameters were identified using the All Our Families cohort dataset and the existing literature. The mean age of our sample was 30 years. The sample was also predominantly white (78.6%) and had at least some post-secondary education (89.1%). When income was increased by just simulating an increase in minimum wage, the proportion of depressed mothers decreased by 2.9% (p < 0.005). Likewise, simulating the Canada Child Benefit resulted in a 5.0% decrease in the prevalence of depression (p < 0.001) and Ontario’s Universal Basic Income pilot project resulted in a simulated 5.6% decrease in the prevalence of depression (p < 0.001). We also assessed simulated changes to the mother’s social networks. Progressive income policies and increasing social networks are predicted to decrease the probability of depression.
在加拿大，抑郁症是孕妇面临的一个主要公共卫生问题。收入不平等与抑郁症有关，因此减少收入不平等的干预措施可能会降低产妇抑郁症的患病率。本研究旨在模拟政府转移支付和提高最低工资对母亲抑郁的影响。我们使用基于代理的建模技术来确定减少收入不平等计划对产妇抑郁的预测影响。使用 All Our Families 队列数据集和现有文献确定模型参数。我们样本的平均年龄为 30 岁。该样本主要是白人（78.6%），并且至少接受过一些高等教育（89.1%）。当仅通过模拟最低工资增加来增加收入时，抑郁母亲的比例下降了 2.9%（p < 0.005）。同样，模拟加拿大儿童福利金导致抑郁症患病率下降 5.0%（p < 0.001），安大略省的普遍基本收入试点项目导致抑郁症患病率模拟下降 5.6%（p < 0.001）。我们还评估了对母亲社交网络的模拟变化。累进收入政策和增加社交网络预计会降低抑郁的概率。
