Economic hardship resulting from the late 2000s Great Recession and long-term changes in mental health: a prospective analysis from the Moli-sani study

• Main Authors: Francesca Bracone (Author), Augusto Di Castelnuovo (Author), Anwal Gulham (Author), Alessandro Gialluisi (Author), Simona Costanzo (Author), Chiara Cerletti (Author), Maria Benedetta Donati (Author), Giovanni de Gaetano (Author), Licia Iacoviello (Author), Marialaura Bonaccio (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2024-10-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Abstract Purpose Economic downturns may have detrimental effects on mental health. We investigated the association of economic hardship resulting from the late 2000s Great Recession with long-term changes in mental health. Methods We analysed data from 1,647 participants to the larger Moli-sani cohort (2005-2010, Italy), who were re-examined between 2017 and 2020. To evaluate economic hardship, we performed a Latent Class Analysis on nine items linked to change in employment status and financial hardship. Depression symptoms were measured by the Patients' Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2; higher values indicate more depressive symptoms; data available in N = 941 individuals) and health perception as assessed by the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (decreased values indicate worsening of health perception). Results Economic hardship was categorized into three classes: "None", "Average" and "High", the latter reflecting increasing economic hardship. Mean (standard deviation) changes in PHQ-2, SF-36 mental and physical after 12.8 years (median) were − 0.1 (1.3), 0.5 (9.9) and − 2.2 (6.2) units, respectively. Changes in SF-36 mental score decreased by 1.0 unit (0.3) monotonically across "none" to "average" to "high" category in a multivariable-adjusted model analysis; the SF-36 physical score decreased by 0.4 (0.2) unit and PHQ-2 increased by 0.1 (0.1). In comparison with participants in the "none", those in the "high" class had 84% (95%CI: 26%-170%) higher odds to report an increment in PHQ-2 values from baseline to re-examination. Conclusions Economic hardship resulting from the Great Recession in late 2000s was associated with deterioration of mental health, as reflected by increased depression symptoms and reduced perceived mental health.

Item Description

10.1186/s12889-024-19960-2
1471-2458