Jenkins, R;
Bhugra, D;
Bebbington, P;
Brugha, T;
Farrell, M;
Coid, J;
Fryers, T;
... Meltzer, H; + view all
(2008)
Debt, income and mental disorder in the general population.
Psychological Medicine
, 38
(10)
1485 - 1493.
10.1017/S0033291707002516.
Text
Bebbington_162279_origupload_281 Jenkins ONS debt psychol med 2008.pdf - Published Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff Download (89kB) |
Abstract
Background. The association between poor mental health and poverty is well known but its mechanism is not fully understood. This study tests the hypothesis that the association between low income and mental disorder is mediated by debt and its attendant financial hardship.Method. The study is a cross-sectional nationally representative survey of private households in England, Scotland and Wales, which assessed 8580 participants aged 16-74 years living in general households. Psychosis, neurosis, alcohol abuse and drug abuse were identified by the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised, the Schedule for Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and other measures. Detailed questions were asked about income, debt and financial hardship.Results. Those with low income were more likely to have mental disorder [odds ratio (OR) 2.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.68-2.59] but this relationship was attenuated after adjustment for debt (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.25-1.97) and vanished when other sociodemographic variables were also controlled (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.77-1.48). Of those with mental disorder, 23% were in debt (compared with 8% of those without disorder), and 10% had had a utility disconnected (compared with 3%). The more debts people had, the more likely they were to have some form of mental disorder, even after adjustment for income and other sociodemographic variables. People with six or more separate debts had a six-fold increase in mental disorder after adjustment for income (OR 6.0, 95 % CI 3.5-10.3).Conclusions. Both low income and debt are associated with mental illness, but the effect of income appears to be mediated largely by debt.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Debt, income and mental disorder in the general population |
DOI: | 10.1017/S0033291707002516 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291707002516 |
Language: | English |
Keywords: | Debt, income, mental disorder, primary-care attenders, socioeconomic-status, prevalence, poverty, inequalities, community, britain, health, india |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > IoN RLW Inst of Neurological Sci |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/162279 |
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