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 remain underresearched. This study uses data from nationally representative surveys in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, and Mexico and from special surveys in India and Tonga to s...

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Main Authors: Das, Jishnu, Do, Quy-Toan, Friedman, Jed, McKenzie, David
Format: Journal Article
Published: World Bank 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4493
id okr-10986-4493
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-44932021-04-23T14:02:18Z Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries Das, Jishnu Do, Quy-Toan Friedman, Jed McKenzie, David aged anxiety clinics depression epidemiology exercises health care health indicators health outcomes health services mental mental health mental illness migration patients physicians primary health care psychology public health screening The social and economic consequences of poor mental health in the developing world are presumed to be significant, yet remain underresearched. This study uses data from nationally representative surveys in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, and Mexico and from special surveys in India and Tonga to show similar patterns of association between mental health and socioeconomic characteristics. Individuals who are older, female, widowed, and report poor physical health are more likely to report worse mental health. 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 relation between mental health and consumption poverty or education, two common measures of socioeconomic status. Indeed, the results here suggest instead that economic and multidimensional shocks, such as illness or crisis, can have a greater impact on mental health than poverty. This may have important implications for social protection policy. Also significant, the associations between poor mental health and lower labor force participation (especially for women) and more frequent visits to health centers suggest that poor mental health can have economic consequences for households and the health system. Mental health modules could usefully be added to multipurpose household surveys in developing countries. Finally, measures of mental health appear distinct from general subjective measures of welfare such as happiness. 2012-03-30T07:12:37Z 2012-03-30T07:12:37Z 2009-02-28 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4493 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank Journal Article Indonesia India Tuvalu Tonga Bosnia and Herzegovina Mexico
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
topic aged
anxiety
clinics
depression
epidemiology
exercises
health care
health indicators
health outcomes
health services
mental
mental health
mental illness
migration
patients
physicians
primary health care
psychology
public health
screening
spellingShingle aged
anxiety
clinics
depression
epidemiology
exercises
health care
health indicators
health outcomes
health services
mental
mental health
mental illness
migration
patients
physicians
primary health care
psychology
public health
screening
Das, Jishnu
Do, Quy-Toan
Friedman, Jed
McKenzie, David
Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
geographic_facet Indonesia
India
Tuvalu
Tonga
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mexico
description The social and economic consequences of poor mental health in the developing world are presumed to be significant, yet remain underresearched. This study uses data from nationally representative surveys in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, and Mexico and from special surveys in India and Tonga to show similar patterns of association between mental health and socioeconomic characteristics. Individuals who are older, female, widowed, and report poor physical health are more likely to report worse mental health. 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 relation between mental health and consumption poverty or education, two common measures of socioeconomic status. Indeed, the results here suggest instead that economic and multidimensional shocks, such as illness or crisis, can have a greater impact on mental health than poverty. This may have important implications for social protection policy. Also significant, the associations between poor mental health and lower labor force participation (especially for women) and more frequent visits to health centers suggest that poor mental health can have economic consequences for households and the health system. Mental health modules could usefully be added to multipurpose household surveys in developing countries. Finally, measures of mental health appear distinct from general subjective measures of welfare such as happiness.
format Journal Article
author Das, Jishnu
Do, Quy-Toan
Friedman, Jed
McKenzie, David
author_facet Das, Jishnu
Do, Quy-Toan
Friedman, Jed
McKenzie, David
author_sort Das, Jishnu
title Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
title_short Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
title_full Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
title_fullStr Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
title_full_unstemmed Mental Health Patterns and Consequences : Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
title_sort mental health patterns and consequences : results from survey data in five developing countries
publisher World Bank
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4493
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