Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
The social and economic consequences of poor mental health in the developing world are presumed to be significant, yet are largely under-researched. The authors argue that mental health modules can be meaningfully added to multi-purpose household s...
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/8989413/mental-health-patterns-consequences-results-survey-data-five-developing-countries-vol-1of-1 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6376 |
| Summary: | The social and economic consequences of
poor mental health in the developing world are presumed to
be significant, yet are largely under-researched. The
authors argue that mental health modules can be meaningfully
added to multi-purpose household surveys in developing
countries, and used to investigate this relationship. Data
from nationally representative surveys in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Indonesia, and Mexico, along with special
surveys from India and Tonga, show similar patterns of
association between mental health and socioeconomic
characteristics across countries. Individuals who are older,
female, widowed, and report poor physical health are more
likely to report worse mental health outcomes. Individuals
living with others with poor mental health are also
significantly more likely to report worse mental health
themselves. In contrast, there is little observed
relationship between mental health and poverty or education,
common measures of socio-economic status. The results
instead suggest that economic and multi-dimensional shocks
such as illness or crisis can have a greater impact on
mental health than overall levels of poverty. This may have
important implications for social protection policy. The
authors also find significant associations between poor
mental health and lowered labor force participation
(especially for women) and higher frequency visits to health
centers, suggesting that poor mental health can have
significant economic consequences for households and the
health system. Finally, the paper discusses how measures of
mental health are distinct from general subjective welfare
measures such as happiness and indicate useful directions of
future research. |
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