ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2022
Mental Health in Australia: Psychological Distress Reported in Six Consecutive Cross-Sectional National Surveys From 2001 to 2018.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining the mental health services among people with mental disorders: a literature review.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Stepped-Care Program to Reduce Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms Among Long-Term Care Workers With Psychological Distress: The REPICAL Study.Depression and anxiety · 2026Trial
- Disparities in mental health service use in Australia: Analysis of the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2020-2022).The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Review
- Under-25s show the clearest post-2021 rebound in mental health: HILDA 2001-2024.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Richards Trauma Process: a before-after single-arm feasibility trial of a novel psychotherapy.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Contemplative practices serve as complementary mental health strategies in nationally representative samples from Australia and New Zealand.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Australia's Better Access initiative: A survey of provider and referrer views.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Beyond the debate: toward pragmatic evaluation of Australia's social media age restrictions.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Review
- Identifying psychological distress data available in nationally representative surveys: A scoping review and case study of Australian surveys.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Review
- Exposing the loci of bias: a taxonomical exploration of sources of bias in population mental health research.Population health metrics · 2025Review
- An observational study of socioeconomic disparities in psychiatry consultation uptake in Australia, using routinely collected national data from 2015 to 2022.The International journal of social psychiatry · 2025Observational
- Article
- Suicidal ideation, suicide plans and suicide attempts among Australian adults: Findings from the 2020-2022 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Reliability and Validity of the Brief Emotional Experience Scale (BEES) as a Measure of Emotional Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Access to urban community mental health services: does geographical distance play a role?Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- The complete mental health of Australia's adolescents and emerging adults: distress and wellbeing across 3 nationally representative community samples.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Article
- Workforce Psychological Distress and Absenteeism in Australia: The Correlates of Industry, Age, and Gender.Asia-Pacific journal of public health · 2025Article
- An equity indicator for assessing mental healthcare access: a national population case study.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2024Article
- Gender disparity and post-traumatic stress disorder and elevated psychological distress in humanitarian migrants resettled in Australia: the moderating role of socioeconomic factors.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2024Article
- Diverging trends in alcohol use and mental health in Australian adolescents: A cross-cohort comparison of trends in co-occurrence.JCPP advances · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: To examine Australian psychological distress trends from 2001 to 2017/18, including analysis by age, sex, location, and household income. Methods: Secondary analysis of the working age population (18-64 years) in six successive representative national health surveys. Measures were prevalence of psychological distress at very-high symptom level (defined by a Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) score of 30 or more) and combined high/very-high level (K10 score of 22 or more). Very-high K10 scores are associated with mental health problems meeting diagnostic thresholds in past year. Results: From 2001 to 2017/18 Australian rates of K10 very-high distress rose significantly from 3.8 to 5.1% and combined high/very-high from 13.2 to 14.8%. In women aged 55-64, very-high distress rose significantly and substantially from 3.5 to 7.2% and high/very-high distress from 12.4 to 18.7%. In men aged 25-34, very-high distress increased from 2.1 to 4.0% and high/very-high from 10.6 to 11.5%. Income was strongly and inversely associated with distress (lowest vs. highest quintile adjusted OR 11.4). An apparent association of increased distress with regional location disappeared with adjustment for income. Conclusion: Australia's population level of psychological distress increased significantly from 2001-2017/18, with levels highest in women and with rates inversely associated with income. This is likely to be indicative of increased community rates of mental disorders. Given that this has occurred whilst mental healthcare expenditure has increased, there is an urgent need to reconsider how best to respond to mental illness, including targeting the most vulnerable based on social determinants such as age, gender, and lower incomes.
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