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

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 h

SUBMITTER: Bracone F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11460007 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature