ArticleBMJ open2012
Trends in population mental health before and after the 2008 recession: a repeat cross-sectional analysis of the 1991-2010 Health Surveys of England.
Article in BMJ open, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Work-Related Stress, Physio-Pathological Mechanisms, and the Influence of Environmental Genetic Factors.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce the impact of unemployment and economic hardship on mental health in the general population: a systematic review.Psychological medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Health outcomes during the 2008 financial crisis in Europe: systematic literature review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2016Pooled it
- Mental health outcomes in times of economic recession: a systematic literature review.BMC public health · 2016Pooled it
- A systematic review on health resilience to economic crises.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- The Impact of Polycrisis on Healthcare Systems-Analyzing Challenges and the Role of Social Epidemiology.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Global Polycrisis and Health Inequalities.International journal of social determinants of health and health services · 2025Article
- The disability-adjusted life years attributable to mental disorders and self-harm in China from 1990-2021: Findings from the global burden of disease study 2021.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- The crisis is over, long live the crisis: mental health in emerging adulthood during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Self-reported energy use behaviour changed significantly during the cost-of-living crisis in winter 2022/23: insights from cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys in Great Britain.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Inflation hardship, gender, and mental health.SSM - population health · 2023Article
- Trends in psychological distress in Great Britain, 1991-2019: evidence from three representative surveys.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2023Article
- Gender Gap in Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea: A Decomposition Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and previous pandemics, epidemics and economic crises on mental health: systematic review.BJPsych open · 2022Review
- Assessing the Relationship between Economic Development and Mental Wellbeing in South Korea.Iranian journal of public health · 2022Article
- Mental Health of Adolescents and Subjective Economic Deterioration Caused by COVID-19 in Korea.Journal of Korean medical science · 2022Article
- Relationship between Income and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Effects of the Great Recession on Educational Disparities in Cardiometabolic Health.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2022Article
- Economic Recession and the Long Term Risk of Psychiatric Disorders and Alcohol Related Diseases-A Cohort Study From Eastern Finland.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess short-term differences in population mental health before and after the 2008 recession and explore how and why these changes differ by gender, age and socio-economic position.
designRepeat cross-sectional analysis of survey data.
settingEngland.
participantsRepresentative samples of the working age (25-64 years) general population participating in the Health Survey for England between 1991 and 2010 inclusive.
main outcome measuresPrevalence of poor mental health (caseness) as measured by the general health questionnaire-12 (GHQ).
resultsAge-sex standardised prevalence of GHQ caseness increased from 13.7% (95% CI 12.9% to 14.5%) in 2008 to 16.4% (95% CI 14.9% to 17.9%) in 2009 and 15.5% (95% CI 14.4% to 16.7%) in 2010. Women had a consistently greater prevalence since 1991 until the current recession. However, compared to 2008, men experienced an increase in age-adjusted caseness of 5.1% (95% CI 2.6% to 7.6%, p<0.001) in 2009 and 3% (95% CI 1.2% to 4.9%, p=0.001) in 2010, while no statistically significant changes were seen in women. Adjustment for differences in employment status and education level did not account for the observed increase in men nor did they explain the differential gender patterning. Over the last decade, socio-economic inequalities showed a tendency to increase but no clear evidence for an increase in inequalities associated with the recession was found. Similarly, no evidence was found for a differential effect between age groups.
conclusionsPopulation mental health in men has deteriorated within 2 years of the onset of the current recession. These changes, and their patterning by gender, could not be accounted for by differences in employment status. Further work is needed to monitor recessionary impacts on health inequalities in response to ongoing labour market and social policy changes.
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