Cultural engagement and mental health: Does socio-economic status explain the association?

ABSTRACT: There is a growing body of literature suggesting that the arts can support mental health. However, both arts participation and cultural engagement are unevenly patterned across the population, with a strong social gradient. This social gradient is also evident in mental health. So it remains unclear whether the relationship between arts engagement and mental health can in fact be explained by socio-economic status (SES). This study explores this question specifically in relation to cultural engagement (e.g. visiting museums/galleries/cinema/theatre/concerts) using data from 8780 adults aged 50 + from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. We used a statistical triangulation approach, running three separate sets of analyses that each have different strengths and address different statist

SUBMITTER: Fancourt D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6695288 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature