Economic inequalities in adolescents’ internalising symptoms: longitudinal evidence from eight countries

作者：Thomas Steare, Sara Evans‐Lacko, Mesele Araya, Santiago Cueto, Hai‐Anh Dang, Revathi Ellanki, Emily Garman, Gemma Lewis, Kelly Rose‐Clarke, Praveetha Patalay · 发表于：The Lancet Psychiatry · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/s2215-0366(24)00255-4 · 被引用次数：13 · 研究领域：Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development、Mental Health Treatment and Access、Employment and Welfare Studies

BACKGROUND: Research, mainly conducted in Europe and North America, has shown an inequitable burden of internalising mental health problems among adolescents from poorer households. We investigated whether these mental health inequalities differ across a diverse range of countries and multiple measures of economic circumstances. METHODS: In this longitudinal observational cohort study, we analysed data from studies conducted in eight countries (Australia, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, the UK, and Viet Nam) across five global regions. All studies had self-reported measures of internalising symptoms using a validated scale at two timepoints in adolescence; a measure of household income, household consumption expenditure, or subjective wealth; and data collected between 2000 and 2019. Household income (measured in four countries), consumption expenditure (six countries), and adolescents' subjective assessment of household wealth (five countries) were measured in mid-adolescence (14-17 years). The primary outcome (internalising symptoms, characterised by negative mood, affect, and anxiety) was measured later in adolescence between age 17 and 19 years. Analyses were linear regression models with adjustment. Effect estimates were added to random-effects meta-analyses to aid understanding of cross-country differences. FINDINGS: statistic was 57·09% and remained similar after adjusting for baseline symptoms (53·25%). We found evidence for cross-country differences in e...