BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the proposition that residential environment can affect mental health. AIMS: To study the degree to which common mental disorder clusters according to postcode units and households. To investigate whether contextual measures of residential environment quality and geographical accessibility are associated with symptoms of common mental disorder. METHOD: A total of 1058 individuals aged 16-75 years (response rate 66%) participated in a cross-sectional survey. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire measured symptoms of common mental disorder. RESULTS: Only 2% (95% CI 0-6) of the unexplained variation in symptoms existed at postcode unit level, whereas 37% (95% CI 27-49) existed at household-level, but the postcode unit variation was reduced to zero after adjustments. There was little evidence to suggest that residential quality or accessibility were associated with symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: There was substantial unexplained variation at the household level but we could find no evidence of postcode unit variation and no association with residential environmental quality or geographical accessibility. It is likely that the psychosocial environment is more important than the physical environment in relation to common mental disorder.
BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the proposition that residential environment can affect mental health. AIMS: To study the degree to which common mental disorder clusters according to postcode units and households. To investigate whether contextual measures of residential environment quality and geographical accessibility are associated with symptoms of common mental disorder. METHOD: A total of 1058 individuals aged 16-75 years (response rate 66%) participated in a cross-sectional survey. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire measured symptoms of common mental disorder. RESULTS: Only 2% (95% CI 0-6) of the unexplained variation in symptoms existed at postcode unit level, whereas 37% (95% CI 27-49) existed at household-level, but the postcode unit variation was reduced to zero after adjustments. There was little evidence to suggest that residential quality or accessibility were associated with symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: There was substantial unexplained variation at the household level but we could find no evidence of postcode unit variation and no association with residential environmental quality or geographical accessibility. It is likely that the psychosocial environment is more important than the physical environment in relation to common mental disorder.
Authors: Carsten Leue; Servaas Buijs; Jacqueline Strik; Richel Lousberg; Jasper Smit; Maarten van Kleef; Jim van Os Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2012-07-19 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Noe Garin; Beatriz Olaya; Marta Miret; Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos; Michael Power; Paola Bucciarelli; Josep Maria Haro Journal: Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health Date: 2014-10-21
Authors: Yu-Tzu Wu; Paul Nash; Linda E Barnes; Thais Minett; Fiona E Matthews; Andy Jones; Carol Brayne Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2014-10-22 Impact factor: 3.295