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Declining mental health among disadvantaged Americans

Author

Listed:
  • Noreen Goldman

    (Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544)

  • Dana A. Glei

    (Center for Population and Health, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-1197)

  • Maxine Weinstein

    (Center for Population and Health, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-1197)

Abstract

Although there is little dispute about the impact of the US opioid epidemic on recent mortality, there is less consensus about whether trends reflect increasing despair among American adults. The issue is complicated by the absence of established scales or definitions of despair as well as a paucity of studies examining changes in psychological health, especially well-being, since the 1990s. We contribute evidence using two cross-sectional waves of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study to assess changes in measures of psychological distress and well-being. These measures capture negative emotions such as sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness, and positive emotions such as happiness, fulfillment, and life satisfaction. Most of the measures reveal increasing distress and decreasing well-being across the age span for those of low relative socioeconomic position, in contrast to little decline or modest improvement for persons of high relative position.

Suggested Citation

  • Noreen Goldman & Dana A. Glei & Maxine Weinstein, 2018. "Declining mental health among disadvantaged Americans," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115(28), pages 7290-7295, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:7290-7295
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David G. Blanchflower & Donn. L. Feir, 2023. "Native Americans’ experience of chronic distress in the USA," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 885-909, April.
    2. Osea Giuntella & Sally McManus & Redzo Mujcic & Andrew J. Oswald & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Ahmed Tohamy, 2023. "The Midlife Crisis," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(357), pages 65-110, January.
    3. Samuel H. Preston & Yana C. Vierboom & Mikko Myrskylä, 2023. "Socio-behavioral factors contributing to recent mortality trends in the United States," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-019, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. Dana A Glei & Noreen Goldman & Maxine Weinstein, 2019. "A growing socioeconomic divide: Effects of the Great Recession on perceived economic distress in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, April.
    5. Shannon M. Monnat, 2022. "Demographic and Geographic Variation in Fatal Drug Overdoses in the United States, 1999–2020," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 703(1), pages 50-78, September.
    6. Glei, Dana A. & Stokes, Andrew & Weinstein, Maxine, 2020. "Changes in mental health, pain, and drug misuse since the mid-1990s: Is there a link?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    7. Jieun Song & Sohyun Kang & Carol D. Ryff, 2023. "Unpacking Psychological Vulnerabilities in Deaths of Despair," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-13, July.

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