ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2015
How financial hardship is associated with the onset of mental health problems over time.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 171 citations in OpenAlex.
- How do income changes impact on mental health and wellbeing for working-age adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Public health · 2022Pooled it
- Move, connect and go outside! A randomized controlled trial of two online interventions and analysis of helpful coping strategies in COVID-19 "homestayers".Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Trial
- Financial Hardship and Health Related Quality of Life Among Older Latinos With Chronic Diseases.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2021Trial
- Mental health risks before the threshold: A longitudinal study of housing cost burden and depressive symptoms in South Korea.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- Economic hardship and mental health following a national trauma and amid ongoing conflict: a longitudinal cohort study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Changes in health-related social needs and in depression and anxiety symptoms in Massachusetts low-income, community health center patients: an observational cohort study.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Optimism, Lifetime Financial Stressors, and Mental Health Among Racially, Sexually, and Gender Minoritized Emerging Adults.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- The price of care: alcohol misuse as a moderator of financial hardship and mental health outcomes of U.S. women caregivers.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Article
- Association of Psychiatric Disorder Comorbidities With Global and Orbital Ablative Surgeries: A Real-World Retrospective Cohort Study.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Understanding the experience of prescription charges in people living with parkinson's disease: a focus group study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The mediating role of financial well-being in the relationship between housing affordability and mental health.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- How can we strengthen the fragile relationship between families with mental health needs and children's social care?Journal of family & child health · 2025Article
- Home, school, and the hidden cost of parental mental health.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health of persons with disabilities: Insights from the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Support needs, received support and mental well-being in Austrian farmers: a mixed-methods approach.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The impact of material hardship severity and frequency on health outcomes: Evidence from New York City.PloS one · 2025Article
- Evaluating the impact of financial worry on mental health: a cross-sectional study among Kenyan radiographers.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Mood, Quality of Life, and Immune Fitness During the COVID-19 Pandemic of Young Adults in Germany.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- The Socioeconomic Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Iranian Children: The Mediating Role of Parents' Mental Health.International journal of school health · 2024Article
- Prescription charge policy acceptance among UK adults with and without long-term health conditions: a mixed-method survey.BMJ open · 2024Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePoor mental health has been consistently linked with the experience of financial hardship and poverty. However, the temporal association between these factors must be clarified before hardship alleviation can be considered as an effective mental health promotion and prevention strategy. We examined whether the longitudinal associations between financial hardship and mental health problems are best explained by an individual's current or prior experience of hardship, or their underlying vulnerability.
methodsWe analysed nine waves (years: 2001-2010) of nationally representative panel data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (n = 11,134). Two components of financial hardship (deprivation and cash-flow problems) and income poverty were coded into time-varying and time-invariant variables reflecting the contemporaneous experience of hardship (i.e., current), the prior experience of hardship (lagged/12 months), and any experience of hardship during the study period (vulnerability). Multilevel, mixed-effect logistic regression models tested the associations between these measures and mental health.
resultsRespondents who reported deprivation and cash-flow problems had greater risk of mental health problems than those who did not. Individuals vulnerable to hardship had greater risk of mental health problems, even at the times they did not report hardship. However, their risk of mental health problems was greater on occasions when they did experience hardship.
conclusionsThe results are consistent with the argument that economic and social programmes that address and prevent hardship may promote community mental health.
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