IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v57y2011i4p402-417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Depressive Symptoms and Their Social Contexts: a Qualitative Systematic Literature Review of Contextual Interventions

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Gottlieb

    (Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, University of California, San Francisco, Center for Health and Community, San Francisco, USA, GottliebL@chc.ucsf.edu)

  • Howard Waitzkin

    (Depts Sociology, Family & Community Medicine, and Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA)

  • Jeanne Miranda

    (Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, USA)

Abstract

Background: Numerous observational studies demonstrate associations between social context and depressive symptoms, yet few intervention trials exist in this arena. Aims: This review examines intervention trials that explore the impact of contextual change on depressive symptoms. Methods: Electronic literature databases of PubMed and PsycINFO, bibliographies of retrieved articles and the publicly available internet were searched for English-language articles published between 1997 and 2008. Peer-reviewed studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported contextual interventions and depressive symptoms measures in adult populations without other significant underlying medical or psychological illness. In total, 2,128 studies met search term criteria. Of these, 13 studies meeting inclusion criteria were classified by type of intervention. Qualitative synthesis was used to interpret the mental health impact of contextual interventions. Results: The interventions focused on employment, housing, poverty, parenting and violence. Eight of these studies reported a decrease in depressive symptoms and/or psychological distress in intervention groups. Interventions varied in focus, length of follow-up and measures of depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Contextual interventions for the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms and psychological distress can be effective, though very limited data exist in this field. Policy implications include a greater emphasis on improving context to decrease depression and other mental disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Gottlieb & Howard Waitzkin & Jeanne Miranda, 2011. "Depressive Symptoms and Their Social Contexts: a Qualitative Systematic Literature Review of Contextual Interventions," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 57(4), pages 402-417, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:57:y:2011:i:4:p:402-417
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764010362863
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764010362863
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764010362863?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey R Kling & Jeffrey B Liebman & Lawrence F Katz, 2007. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 83-119, January.
    2. Oakes, J. Michael, 2004. "The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1929-1952, May.
    3. Reading, Richard & Reynolds, Shirley, 2001. "Debt, social disadvantage and maternal depression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 441-453, August.
    4. Fone, David & Dunstan, Frank & Williams, Gareth & Lloyd, Keith & Palmer, Stephen, 2007. "Places, people and mental health: A multilevel analysis of economic inactivity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 633-645, February.
    5. Heflin, Colleen M. & Siefert, Kristine & Williams, David R., 2005. "Food insufficiency and women's mental health: Findings from a 3-year panel of welfare recipients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 1971-1982, November.
    6. Silver, Eric & Mulvey, Edward P. & Swanson, Jeffrey W., 2002. "Neighborhood structural characteristics and mental disorder: Faris and Dunham revisited," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1457-1470, October.
    7. Fauth, Rebecca C. & Leventhal, Tama & Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, 2004. "Short-term effects of moving from public housing in poor to middle-class neighborhoods on low-income, minority adults' outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(11), pages 2271-2284, December.
    8. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2001. "Moving to Opportunity in Boston: Early Results of a Randomized Mobility Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 607-654.
    9. Leventhal, T. & Brooks-Gunn, J., 2003. "Moving to Oppurtunity: An Experimental Study of Neighborhood Effects on Mental Health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1576-1582.
    10. Anna Gassman-Pines & Hirokazu Yoshikawa, 2006. "Five-year effects of an anti-poverty program on marriage among never-married mothers," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(1), pages 11-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Boje-Kovacs, Bence & Greve, Jane & Weatherall, Cecilie Dohlmann, 2018. "Can a shift of neighborhoods affect mental health? Evidence from a quasi-random allocation of applicants in the public social housing system," MPRA Paper 88929, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Bence Boje-Kovacs & Jane Greve & Cecilie D. Weatherall, 2023. "Neighborhoods and mental health—evidence from a natural experiment in the public social housing sector," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 911-934, April.
    3. Boje-Kovacs, Bence & Egsgaard-Pedersen, Aske & Weatherall, Cecilie D., 2021. "Residential mobility and persistent neighborhood deprivation," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    4. Giulietti, Corrado & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2022. "Peers, gender, and long-term depression," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    5. Humphrey, Jamie L. & Root, Elisabeth D., 2017. "Spatio-temporal neighborhood impacts on internalizing and externalizing behaviors in U.S. elementary school children: Effect modification by child and family socio-demographics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 52-61.
    6. Cheshire, Paul, 2009. "Policies for mixed communities: faith-based displacement activity?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 30783, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Yann Algan & Camille Hémet & David D. Laitin, 2016. "The Social Effects of Ethnic Diversity at the Local Level: A Natural Experiment with Exogenous Residential Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(3), pages 696-733.
    8. Patrick Bayer & Stephen L. Ross, 2006. "Identifying Individual and Group Effects in the Presence of Sorting: A Neighborhood Effects Application," Working papers 2006-13, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2009.
    9. Damm, Anna Piil, 2014. "Neighborhood quality and labor market outcomes: Evidence from quasi-random neighborhood assignment of immigrants," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 139-166.
    10. Yann Algan & Camille Hémet & David D. Laitin, 2016. "The Social Effects of Ethnic Diversity at the Local Level: A Natural Experiment with Exogenous Residential Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(3), pages 696-733.
    11. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    12. Stefan Angel & Benjamin Bittschi, 2019. "Housing and Health," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(3), pages 495-513, September.
    13. Paul Dolan & Robert Metcalfe, 2008. "Comparing Willingness-to-Pay and Subjective Well-Being in the Context of Non-Market Goods," CEP Discussion Papers dp0890, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Bilger, Marcel & Carrieri, Vincenzo, 2013. "Health in the cities: When the neighborhood matters more than income," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 1-11.
    15. Haney, Timothy, 2012. "Off to Market: Neighborhood and Individual Employment Barriers for Women in 21st Century American Cities," SocArXiv 57e4a, Center for Open Science.
    16. Kling, Jeffrey R., 2007. "Methodological Frontiers of Public Finance Field Experiments," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 60(1), pages 109-127, March.
    17. Seals, Richard Alan & Stern, Liliana V., 2013. "Cognitive ability and the division of labor in urban ghettos: Evidence from gang activity in U.S. data," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 140-149.
    18. Vincent Boucher & Carlo L. Del Bello & Fabrizio Panebianco & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2023. "Education Transmission and Network Formation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 129-173.
    19. Lisa Sanbonmatsu & Jeffrey R. Kling & Greg J. Duncan & Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, 2006. "Neighborhoods and Academic Achievement: Results from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(4).
    20. Dujardin, Claire & Goffette-Nagot, Florence, 2010. "Neighborhood effects on unemployment?: A test à la Altonji," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 380-396, November.

    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:sae:socpsy:v:57:y:2011:i:4:p:402-417. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.