The Association Between Neighbourhood-level Deprivation and Depression: Evidence from the South African National Income Dynamics Study

Overview

Journal BMC Psychiatry

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2017 Dec 13

PMID 29228912

Citations 7

Authors

Nicholas Dowdall

Catherine L Ward

Crick Lund

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Depression contributes substantially to the burden of disease in South Africa. Little is known about how neighbourhoods affect the mental health of the people living in them.

Methods: Using nationally representative data (N=11,955) from the South African National Income Dynamics Study and the South African Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SAIMD) modelled at small-area level, this study tested associations between neighbourhood-level deprivation and depression, after controlling for individual-level covariates.

Results: Results showed a significant positive association between neighbourhood-level deprivation and depression using the composite SAIMD (β = 0.31 (0.15); p=0.04) as well as the separate deprivation domains. Living environment deprivation (β =0.53 (0.16); p=0.001) and employment deprivation (β = 0.38 (0.13); p=0.004), respectively, were the two most salient domains in predicting this relationship.

Conclusions: Findings supported the hypothesis that there is a positive association between living in a more deprived neighbourhood and depression, even after controlling for individual-level covariates. This study suggests that alleviating structural poverty could reduce the burden of depression in South Africa.

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