Mental Health Patterns and Consequences: Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
Mental Health Patterns and Consequences: Results from Survey Data in Five Developing Countries
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DOI：
10.1093/wber/lhn010
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
McKenzie, David
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Das, Jishnu;Do, Quy-Toan;McKenzie, David
发展中国家精神健康状况不佳的社会和经济后果被认为是重要的，但仍然研究不足。这项研究使用了来自波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那，印度尼西亚和墨西哥的全国代表性调查以及印度和汤加的特别调查的数据，以显示心理健康与社会经济特征之间的关联模式。年龄较大，女性，丧偶和报告身体健康状况不佳的人更有可能报告心理健康状况较差。与心理健康状况不佳的人一起生活的人也更有可能报告自己的心理健康状况更差。相比之下，心理健康与消费贫困或教育之间几乎没有观察到关系，这是两种常见的社会经济地位衡量标准。事实上，这里的结果表明，经济和多方面的冲击，如疾病或危机，对心理健康的影响可能比贫困更大。这可能对社会保障政策产生重要影响。同样重要的是，精神健康状况不佳与劳动力参与率较低（特别是女性）以及更频繁地前往卫生中心之间的关联表明，精神健康状况不佳可能对家庭和卫生系统产生经济后果。发展中国家的多用途住户调查可增加心理健康单元。最后，心理健康的衡量标准似乎有别于幸福等一般主观福利的衡量标准。
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.