Dept of Economics, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Nov 8;23(1):2203. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-17070-z.
This study examines the prevalence of and socio-economic inequalities in depressive symptoms in nine high-income European countries, focusing in particular on the role of housing quality.
Using the European Social Survey, a concentration index of depressive symptoms in each country is estimated. The role of housing quality is assessed by examining the risk factors associated with the concentration index, using the Recentred Influence Function method. To contextualise the housing quality results, other predictors of inequalities in depressive symptoms inequalities are also quantified and discussed.
Our results indicate that inequalities in depressive symptoms are concentrated among poorer respondents both in each country and in total. Austria and Belgium have the lowest inequalities and France has the highest. No geographic pattern is evident. Housing problems are associated with higher inequalities in six of the nine countries in the sample. While no association is evident for indicators of socio-economic status such as years of education and income, financial strain is significant.
This study is the first to estimate the degree of socio-economic inequality in depressive symptoms across European countries. The association between poor housing and poorer inequalities suggests that housing has a role to play lowering depressive symptoms inequalities.
本研究考察了九个高收入欧洲国家抑郁症状的流行情况和社会经济不平等，特别关注住房质量的作用。
本研究使用欧洲社会调查，估计了每个国家抑郁症状的集中指数。使用最近中心化影响函数方法，通过检查与集中指数相关的风险因素，评估住房质量的作用。为了使住房质量结果具有背景意义，还量化和讨论了其他导致抑郁症状不平等的预测因素。
我们的结果表明，在每个国家和总体上，抑郁症状的不平等都集中在较贫困的受访者中。奥地利和比利时的不平等程度最低，法国的不平等程度最高。没有明显的地理模式。在样本中的九个国家中，有六个国家的住房问题与更高的不平等相关。虽然教育年限和收入等社会经济地位的指标没有关联，但经济压力是显著的。
本研究首次估计了整个欧洲国家抑郁症状的社会经济不平等程度。住房条件差与不平等程度较低之间的关联表明，住房在降低抑郁症状不平等方面发挥了作用。
