IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i15p5386-d390235.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

State-Level Income Inequality and County-Level Social Capital in Relation to Individual-Level Depression in Middle-Aged Adults: A Lagged Multilevel Study

Author

Listed:
  • Saloni Dev

    (Department of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Daniel Kim

    (Department of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

Abstract

In the US, the incidence of depression and suicide have followed escalating trends over the past several years. These trends call for greater efforts towards identifying their underlying drivers and finding effective prevention strategies and treatments. One social determinant of health that plausibly influences the risk of depression is income inequality, the gap between the rich and poor. However, research on this association is still sparse. We used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the US Census to investigate the multilevel lagged associations of state-level income inequality with the individual-level odds of depression in middle-aged adults, controlling for state- and individual-level factors. We also examined the independent associations of county-level social capital with depression and explored whether it mediated the income inequality relationship. Higher income inequality at the state level predicted higher odds of individual-level depression nearly 2 decades later [OR for middle vs. lowest tertile of income inequality = 1.35 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.76), OR for highest vs. lowest tertile = 1.34 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.78)]. This association was stronger among men than women. Furthermore, there was evidence that county-level social capital independently predicted depression and that it mediated the income inequality association. Overall, our findings suggest that policies attenuating levels of income inequality at the US state level and that leverage social capital may protect against one’s likelihood of developing depression.

Suggested Citation

  • Saloni Dev & Daniel Kim, 2020. "State-Level Income Inequality and County-Level Social Capital in Relation to Individual-Level Depression in Middle-Aged Adults: A Lagged Multilevel Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-12, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5386-:d:390235
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5386/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5386/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Glass, R., 1999. "Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(8), pages 1187-1193.
    2. Ichida, Yukinobu & Kondo, Katsunori & Hirai, Hiroshi & Hanibuchi, Tomoya & Yoshikawa, Goshu & Murata, Chiyoe, 2009. "Social capital, income inequality and self-rated health in Chita peninsula, Japan: a multilevel analysis of older people in 25 communities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 489-499, August.
    3. Daniel Kim & Beth Ann Griffin & Mohammed Kabeto & José Escarce & Kenneth M Langa & Regina A Shih, 2016. "Lagged Associations of Metropolitan Statistical Area- and State-Level Income Inequality with Cognitive Function: The Health and Retirement Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Rupasingha, Anil & Goetz, Stephan J. & Freshwater, David, 2006. "The production of social capital in US counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-101, February.
    5. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Lochner, K. & Prothrow-Stith, D., 1997. "Social capital, income inequality, and mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(9), pages 1491-1498.
    6. Chen, Zhuo & Gotway Crawford, Carol A., 2012. "The role of geographic scale in testing the income inequality hypothesis as an explanation of health disparities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1022-1031.
    7. Henderson, Claire & Liu, Xinhua & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Link, Bruce G. & Hasin, Deborah, 2004. "The effects of US state income inequality and alcohol policies on symptoms of depression and alcohol dependence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 565-575, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sergey A. Maksimov & Marina B. Kotova & Liliya I. Gomanova & Svetlana A. Shalnova & Yulia A. Balanova & Svetlana E. Evstifeeva & Oksana M. Drapkina, 2023. "Mental Health of the Russian Federation Population versus Regional Living Conditions and Individual Income," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-13, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hswen, Yulin & Qin, Qiuyuan & Williams, David R. & Viswanath, K. & Brownstein, John S. & Subramanian, S.V., 2020. "The relationship between Jim Crow laws and social capital from 1997–2014: A 3-level multilevel hierarchical analysis across time, county and state," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    2. Herian, Mitchel N. & Tay, Louis & Hamm, Joseph A. & Diener, Ed, 2014. "Social capital, ideology, and health in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 30-37.
    3. Shoff, Carla & Yang, Tse-Chuan, 2013. "Understanding maternal smoking during pregnancy: Does residential context matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 50-60.
    4. Tse-Chuan Yang & Leif Jensen, 2015. "Exploring the Inequality-Mortality Relationship in the US with Bayesian Spatial Modeling," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(3), pages 437-460, June.
    5. Hanibuchi, Tomoya & Murata, Yohei & Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kawachi, Ichiro & Kondo, Katsunori, 2012. "Place-specific constructs of social capital and their possible associations to health: A Japanese case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 225-232.
    6. Jonathan K Burns & Andrew Tomita & Amy S Kapadia, 2014. "Income inequality and schizophrenia: Increased schizophrenia incidence in countries with high levels of income inequality," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(2), pages 185-196, March.
    7. Tse-Chuan Yang & Stephen A Matthews, 2015. "Death by Segregation: Does the Dimension of Racial Segregation Matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, September.
    8. Melissa P L Chan & Robert S Weinhold & Reuben Thomas & Julia M Gohlke & Christopher J Portier, 2015. "Environmental Predictors of US County Mortality Patterns on a National Basis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, December.
    9. Sirven, Nicolas, 2006. "Endogenous social capital and self-rated health: Cross-sectional data from rural areas of Madagascar," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1489-1502, September.
    10. Fabrice Murtin & Federica Marzo, 2007. "HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa: a Bayesian Estimation," Cahiers de recherche 07-08, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    11. Eiji Yamamura, 2011. "Differences in the effect of social capital on health status between workers and non-workers," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(4), pages 385-400, December.
    12. Inaba, Yoji & Wada, Yuri & Ichida, Yukinobu & Nishikawa, Masashi, 2015. "Which part of community social capital is related to life satisfaction and self-rated health? A multilevel analysis based on a nationwide mail survey in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 169-182.
    13. Lisa R. Anderson & Jennifer M. Mellor & Jeffrey Milyo, 2003. "Inequality, Group Cohesion, and Public Good Provision: An Experimental Analysis," Working Papers 0308, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
    14. Ullmann, S. Heidi & Goldman, Noreen & Pebley, Anne R., 2013. "Contextual factors and weight change over time: A comparison between U.S. Hispanics and other population sub-groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 40-48.
    15. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Structural social capital and health in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 129-142.
    16. Ryvicker, Miriam & Gallo, William T. & Fahs, Marianne C., 2012. "Environmental factors associated with primary care access among urban older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 914-921.
    17. Damiano Fiorillo, 2016. "Workers’ health and social relations in Italy," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(5), pages 835-862, October.
    18. Jae-Young Lim & Hyun-Hoon Lee & Yeon-Hee Hwang, 2011. "Trust on doctor, social capital and medical care use of the elderly," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(2), pages 175-188, April.
    19. Riumallo-Herl, Carlos Javier & Kawachi, Ichiro & Avendano, Mauricio, 2014. "Social capital, mental health and biomarkers in Chile: Assessing the effects of social capital in a middle-income country," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 47-58.
    20. Ying Yao & Guanghua Wan & Dongfang Meng, 2019. "Income distribution and health: can polarization explain health outcomes better than inequality?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(4), pages 543-557, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5386-:d:390235. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.