ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2024
Gender differences in the prevalence of mental distress in East and West Germany over time: a hierarchical age-period-cohort analysis, 2006-2021.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early care in childhood and psychological burden among East and West German adults.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Depression and anxiety symptoms in internally migrated women and men after the German unification: Baseline results from the German National Cohort Study (NAKO).Journal of migration and health · 2026Article
- Utilization of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and their combination by individuals with current or residual depression: results from five annual nationally representative German surveys.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Determinants of gender disparities in psychological distress in the South African population aged 15 years and older: Findings from the 2017 National HIV prevalence, incidence, behaviour, and communication survey.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- The impact of informal caregiving on the mental health of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic-cross-sectional and longitudinal results from the VOICE study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The Brief Symptom Inventory in the Swiss general population: Presentation of norm scores and predictors of psychological distress.PloS one · 2024Article
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Abstract
purposeMental distress has become a major public health concern. Temporal trends in psychological distress are complex and depend on numerous factors. In this study, we examined age-period-cohort effects for mental distress including gender and German region over a 15 years' time span.
methodsData on mental distress from ten cross-sectional surveys of the general German population, covering the years from 2006 to 2021, was used. Hierarchical age-period-cohort analyses including gender and German region as predictors were performed to disentangle age, period, and cohort effects. The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 was used as a brief screener for mental distress.
resultsWe found significant period and cohort effects, with peek values for mental distress in the years 2017 and 2020 and for the oldest birth cohort (born before 1946). Age did not affect mental distress when cohort- and period effects as well as gender and German region were considered. An interaction effect for gender and the German region was found. Women in West Germany reported significantly higher mental distress compared to women in East Germany. Compared to men, women reported the highest prevalence in both regions.
conclusionImportant political events as well as major crises can lead to an increase of mental distress in societies. Furthermore, an association between birth cohort and mental distress could be linked to socialization effects of that certain time, causing traumatic experiences or a specific coping style within this cohort group. Prevention and intervention strategies could benefit from acknowledging structural differences linked to period and cohort effects.
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