Arts, mental distress, mental health functioning & life satisfaction: fixed-effects analyses of a nationally-representative panel study

Abstract Background. Arts engagement within communities is ubiquitous across cultures globally and previous research has suggested its benefits for mental health and wellbeing. However, it remains unclear whether these benefits are driven by arts engagement itself or by important confounders such as socio-economic status (SES), childhood arts engagement, previous mental health, personality, or self-selection bias. The aim of this study is to use fixed effects models that account for unidentified time-constant confounding measures to examine the longitudinal association between arts (frequency of both arts participation and cultural attendance), mental distress, mental health functioning and life satisfaction. Methods. Data from 23,660 individuals (with a mean age of 47 years) included in the UK Understanding Society wave 2 (2010-2012) and wave 5 (2013-2015) were analyzed. Aside from controlling for all time-constant variables using the fixed-effects models, we additionally adjusted for time-varying demographic factors (e.g. age and marital status), health behaviors and social support variables. Results. After controlling for all time-constant variables and identified time-varying confounders, frequent arts participation and cultural attendance were associated with lower levels of mental distress and higher levels of life satisfaction, with arts participation additionally associated with better mental health functioning. Health-related and social time-varying factors were shown to partly but not wholly explain the observed associations. Conclusion. Arts engagement amongst the population as a whole may help enhance positive mental health and life satisfaction, and protect against mental distress. These results are not explained by any time-constant confounding factors.

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Arts, mental distress, mental health functioning & life satisfaction: fixed effects analyses of a nationally-representative panel study

10.21203/rs.2.10358/v2 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Senhu Wang ◽

Hei Wan Mak ◽

Daisy Fancourt

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Time Constant ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Mental Distress ◽

Time Varying ◽

Arts Participation ◽

Mental Health Functioning ◽

Health Functioning ◽

Arts Engagement

Abstract Background . Arts engagement within communities is ubiquitous across cultures globally and previous research has suggested its benefits for mental health and wellbeing. However, it remains unclear whether these benefits are driven by arts engagement itself or by important confounders such as socio-economic status (SES), childhood arts engagement, previous mental health, personality, or self-selection bias. The aim of this study is to use fixed effects models that account for unidentified time-constant confounding measures to examine the longitudinal association between arts (frequency of both arts participation and cultural attendance), mental distress, mental health functioning and life satisfaction. Methods . Data from 23,660 individuals (with a mean age of 47 years) included in the UK Understanding Society wave 2 (2010-2012) and wave 5 (2013-2015) were analyzed. Aside from controlling for all time-constant variables using the fixed-effects models, we additionally adjusted for time-varying demographic factors (e.g. age and marital status), health behaviors and social support variables. Results . After controlling for all time-constant variables and identified time-varying confounders, frequent arts participation and cultural attendance were associated with lower levels of mental distress and higher levels of life satisfaction, with arts participation additionally associated with better mental health functioning. Health-related and social time-varying factors were shown to partly but not wholly explain the observed associations. Conclusion . Arts engagement amongst the population as a whole may help enhance positive mental health and life satisfaction, and protect against mental distress. These results are not explained by any time-constant confounding factors.

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Arts, mental distress, mental health functioning & life satisfaction: fixed effects analyses of a nationally-representative panel study

10.21203/rs.2.10358/v3 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Senhu Wang ◽

Hei Wan Mak ◽

Daisy Fancourt

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Time Constant ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Mental Distress ◽

Time Varying ◽

Arts Participation ◽

Mental Health Functioning ◽

Health Functioning ◽

Arts Engagement

Abstract Background. Arts engagement within communities is ubiquitous across cultures globally and previous research has suggested its benefits for mental health and wellbeing. However, it remains unclear whether these benefits are driven by arts engagement itself or by important confounders such as socio-economic status (SES), childhood arts engagement, previous mental health, personality, or self-selection bias. The aim of this study is to use fixed effects models that account for unidentified time-constant confounding measures to examine the longitudinal association between arts (frequency of both arts participation and cultural attendance), mental distress, mental health functioning and life satisfaction. Methods. Data from 23,660 individuals (with a mean age of 47 years) included in the UK Understanding Society wave 2 (2010-2012) and wave 5 (2013-2015) were analyzed. Aside from controlling for all time-constant variables using the fixed-effects models, we additionally adjusted for time-varying demographic factors (e.g. age and marital status), health behaviors and social support variables. Results. After controlling for all time-constant variables and identified time-varying confounders, frequent arts participation and cultural attendance were associated with lower levels of mental distress and higher levels of life satisfaction, with arts participation additionally associated with better mental health functioning. Health-related and social time-varying factors were shown to partly but not wholly explain the observed associations. Conclusion. Arts engagement amongst the population as a whole may help enhance positive mental health and life satisfaction, and protect against mental distress. These results are not explained by any time-constant confounding factors.

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Arts, mental distress, mental health functioning & mental wellbeing: fixed-effects analyses of a nationally-representative panel study

10.21203/rs.2.10358/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Senhu Wang ◽

Hei Wan Mak ◽

Daisy Fancourt

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Time Constant ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Mental Distress ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Time Varying ◽

Arts Participation ◽

Mental Health Functioning ◽

Health Functioning ◽

Arts Engagement

Abstract Background Arts engagement within communities is ubiquitous across cultures globally and previous research has suggested benefits for mental health and wellbeing. However, it remains unclear whether these benefits are due to the confounding impact of factors such as socio-economic status (SES), childhood arts engagement, previous mental health, personality, or self-selection bias. So this study used fixed effects models that account for even unidentified time-constant confounding measures to examine the longitudinal association between arts (frequency of both arts participation and cultural attendance), mental distress, mental health functioning, and mental wellbeing. Methods Data from 23,660 individuals (with a mean age of 47 years) included in the UK Understanding Society wave 2 (2010-2012) and wave 5 (2013-2015) were analyzed. Changes in frequencies of art engagement were related to changes in mental health within individual over time whilst accounting for time-varying confounders. Results After controlling for all time-constant variables and identified time-varying confounders, frequent arts participation and cultural attendance were associated with lower levels of mental distress and higher levels of life satisfaction, with arts participation additionally associated with higher mental health functioning. Health-related and social time-varying factors were shown to partly but not wholly explain the observed associations. Conclusion Arts engagement amongst the population as a whole may help enhance positive mental health and wellbeing, and protect against mental distress. These results are not explained by any time-constant confounding factors.

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Associations between community cultural engagement and life satisfaction, mental distress and mental health functioning using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS): are associations moderated by area deprivation?

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045512 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. e045512

Author(s):

Hei Wan Mak ◽

Rory Coulter ◽

Daisy Fancourt

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Mental Distress ◽

Well Being ◽

Area Deprivation ◽

Cultural Engagement ◽

Mental Health Functioning ◽

Cultural Assets ◽

Health Functioning ◽

The Uk

ObjectivesThe association between community cultural engagement and mental health and well-being is well established. However, little is known about whether such associations are influenced by area characteristics. This study therefore examined whether the association between engagement in community cultural assets (attendance at cultural events, visiting museums and heritage sites) and subsequent well-being (life satisfaction, mental distress and mental health functioning) is moderated by neighbourhood deprivation.DesignData were drawn from Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study waves 2 and 5. Participating households’ addresses were geocoded into statistical neighbourhood zones categorised according to their level of area deprivation.SettingGeneral population.ParticipantsUK general adult population, with a total sample of 14 783.Main outcome measuresLife satisfaction was measured with a seven-point scale (1: completely unsatisfied to 7: completely satisfied). Mental distress was measured using the General Health Questionnaire 12. Mental health functioning was measured using 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12).ResultsUsing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, we found that engagement in cultural assets was consistently and positively associated with subsequent life satisfaction and mental health functioning and negatively associated with mental distress. Importantly, such associations were independent of individuals’ demographic background, socioeconomic characteristics and regional location. The results also show that relationships between engagement in community cultural assets and well-being were stronger in more deprived areas.ConclusionsThis study shows that engagement in community cultural assets is associated with better well-being, with some evidence that individuals in areas of high deprivation potentially may benefit more from these engagements. Given that causal mechanisms were not tested, causal claims cannot be generated from the results. However, the results suggest that place-based funding schemes that involve investment in areas of higher deprivation to improve engagement rates should be explored further to see if they can help promote better well-being among residents.

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Invited Commentary: Linking Job Security and Mental Health—Challenges and Future Directions

American Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/aje/kwaa039 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Burgard

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Job Insecurity ◽

Panel Study ◽

Modifying Factors ◽

Period Effects ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Time Invariant ◽

Future Work ◽

Perceived Job Insecurity

Abstract Research in the social and health sciences has linked job insecurity to poorer mental health but relies on observational data and faces challenges of causal inference. LaMontagne et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2020;000(00):000–000) innovate by using both within-person fixed-effects and random-effects regression to analyze data from 14 annual waves of an Australian survey spanning 2002–2015. Using this more rigorous design, they find that improvements in perceived job insecurity were associated with improvements in Mental Health Inventory–5 scores in a large, nationally representative panel study. By using each respondent as their own control, fixed-effects models remove the influence of time-invariant confounders. Innovative new approaches are still needed to address the causal directionality of the association and to capture both those whose exposure changes as well as those for whom it persists. Future work should also consider potential modifying factors including societal conditions, macroeconomic and other period effects, and characteristics of individuals, as well as drawing on multidisciplinary approaches that consider jobs as a combination of multiple health-relevant exposures and embed individual workers in families and communities to assess the full reach and consequences of perceived job insecurity.

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COVID-19 vaccines and mental distress

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256406 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (9) ◽

pp. e0256406

Author(s):

Francisco Perez-Arce ◽

Marco Angrisani ◽

Daniel Bennett ◽

Jill Darling ◽

Arie Kapteyn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Baseline Level ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Mental Distress ◽

P Value ◽

Short Term ◽

Patient Health ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Fixed Effects Regression

Background The COVID-19 pandemic brought about large increases in mental distress. The uptake of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to significantly reduce health risks, improve economic and social outcomes, with potential benefits to mental health. Purpose To examine short-term changes in mental distress following the receipt of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods Participants included 8,003 adults from the address-based sampled, nationally representative Understanding America Study (UAS), surveyed at regular intervals between March 10, 2020, and March 31, 2021 who completed at least two waves of the survey. Respondents answered questions about COVID-19 vaccine status and self-reported mental distress as measured with the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4). Fixed-effects regression models were used to identify the change in PHQ-4 scores and categorical indicators of mental distress resulting from the application of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Results People who were vaccinated between December 2020 and March 2021 reported decreased mental distress levels in the surveys conducted after receiving the first dose. The fixed-effects estimates show an average effect of receiving the vaccine equivalent to 4% of the standard deviation of PHQ-4 scores (p-value<0.01), a reduction in 1 percentage point (4% reduction from the baseline level) in the probability of being at least mildly depressed, and of 0.7 percentage points (15% reduction from the baseline level) in the probability of being severely depressed (p-value = 0.06). Conclusions Getting the first dose of COVID-19 resulted in significant improvements in mental health, beyond improvements already achieved since mental distress peaked in the spring of 2020.

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Changes in Job Security and Mental Health: An Analysis of 14 Annual Waves of an Australian Working-Population Panel Survey

American Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/aje/kwaa038 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anthony Daniel LaMontagne ◽

Lay San Too ◽

Laura Punnett ◽

Allison Joy Milner

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Panel Study ◽

Job Security ◽

Observational Research ◽

Fe Model ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Population Mental Health ◽

Nationally Representative

Abstract We examined whether job security improvements were associated with improvements in mental health in a large, nationally representative panel study in Australia. We used both within-person fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) regression to analyze data from 14 annual waves covering the calendar period of 2002–2015 (19,169 persons; 106,942 observations). Mental Health Inventory–5 scores were modeled in relation to self-reported job security (categorical, quintiles), adjusting for age, year, education, and job change in the past year. Both FE and RE models showed stepwise improvements in Mental Health Inventory–5 scores with improving job security, with stronger exposure-outcome relationships in the RE models and for men compared with women. The RE coefficients for improvements in job security in men were 2.06 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.67, 2.46) for 1 quintile, steadily increasing for 2- (3.94 (95% CI: 3.54, 4.34)), 3- (5.82 (95% CI: 5.40, 6.24)), and 4-quintile (7.18 (95% CI: 6.71, 7.64)) improvements. The FE model for men produced slightly smaller coefficients, reaching a maximum of 5.55 (95% CI: 5.06, 6.05). This analysis, with improved causal inference over previous observational research, showed that improving job security is strongly associated with decreasing depression and anxiety symptoms. Policy and practice intervention to improve job security could benefit population mental health.

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Socio-Economic Development and Mental Health Connection in China: Evidence from China Family Panel Study

Journal of Economics Management and Trade ◽

10.9734/jemt/2020/v26i1130306 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 11-22

Author(s):

Fenglin Xu ◽

Xuanfei Zhang

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Large Scale ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Panel Study ◽

Probit Model ◽

Chinese Government ◽

Independent Variables ◽

Nationally Representative

With the growing public awareness and attention towards mental health issues, policymakers and researchers are constantly increasing their efforts. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between socio-economic factors and mental health in China. The data used in this study is from a large scale nationally representative survey (the 2016 China Family Panel Studies). The CFPS is funded by the Chinese government through Peking University and conducted by the Institute of Social Science Survey (ISSS), which covers 16,000 households in 25 provinces in China using various questionnaires. Participants included in the survey are aged 16 and above. An Ordered Probit model is applied in this study. Life satisfaction is the dependent variable, and independent variables are total annual income for all jobs, sleeping hours per day, age, gender, currently registered residence, the highest academic background, and current marital status in this study. The results indicated that there is a positive relationship between independent variables such as total income, sleeping hours per day and age with the dependent variable life satisfaction. Compared to people whose educational attainment is equal or below Primary School, people who have finished Junior High and Senior High have worse mental health but people whose degree is above Senior High have better mental health. Furthermore, the results indicated that if people get divorced, they have a much higher probability to have mental health problems. In addition, males are more vulnerable than females overall, especially when both females and males get divorced.

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1150Changes in job security and mental health over 14 waves of a working population survey

International Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/ije/dyab168.366 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Anthony D. LaMontagne ◽

Laura Punnett ◽

Lay San Too

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Panel Study ◽

Job Security ◽

Cumulative Exposure ◽

Observational Research ◽

Fe Model ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Population Mental Health ◽

Nationally Representative

Abstract Background & Methods We examined whether job security improvements were associated with improvements in mental health in a large Australian nationally representative panel study. We used both within-person fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) regression to analyse data from 14 annual waves covering calendar years 2002—2015 (19,169 persons, 106,942 observations). Mental Health Inventory-5 scores were modeled in relation to self-reported job security (categorical, quintiles), adjusting for age, year, education, and job change in the past year. Results Both FE and RE models showed stepwise improvements in MHI-5 scores with improving job security, with stronger exposure-outcome relationships in the RE models and for men compared to women. The RE coefficients for improvements in job security in males were 2.06 [1.67, 2.46] for one quintile, steadily increasing for two- (3.94 [3.54, 4.34]), three- (5.82 [5.40, 6.24]), and four- (7.18 [6.71, 7.64]) quintile improvements. The FE model for males produced slightly smaller coefficients, reaching a maximum of 5.55 [5.06, 6.05]. Supplementary analyses investigated whether six waves of cumulative exposure to job security (higher value = higher security) predicted MHI-5 score (improvement in mental health) in the seventh wave: results showed a strong dose-response (beta cumulative security was 0.60 [0.53-0.68]), with the difference between lowest and highest values of exposure corresponding to a 14-point increase in MHI-5 score. Conclusions These analyses, with improved causal inference over previous observational research, showed that improving job security is strongly associated with decreasing depression and anxiety symptoms. Key messages Policy and practice intervention to improve job security could benefit population mental health.

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