Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gq7q9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T07:09:00.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A cross-sectional, face-to-face, community survey of mental health and deprivation in post-recession Ireland: a rising tide lifts all boats?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2019

G. M. Sorin ,
C. Darker ,
L. Whiston ,
A. O’Callaghan ,
J. M. Barry  and
B. D. Kelly Open the ORCID record for B. D. Kelly [Opens in a new window]
G. M. Sorin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin 24, Ireland
C. Darker
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 24, Ireland
L. Whiston
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Human Sciences, Faculty of Science and Health, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
A. O’Callaghan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin 24, Ireland
J. M. Barry
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Population Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 24, Ireland
B. D. Kelly*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin 24, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor Brendan D. Kelly, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin 24, D24 NR0A, Ireland. (Email: brendan.kelly@tcd.ie)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

To assess community mental health in suburban Dublin in 2018, 5 years after Ireland’s economic recession ended.

Methods

A cross-sectional, face-to-face, household survey was conducted in a random cluster sample of 351 households in Tallaght, a deprived suburb of Dublin.

Results

A majority of respondents (61.3%) reported stress over the previous 12 months, with a higher rate in areas of high (66.9%) compared to lower deprivation (55.5%). Deprivation was not related to rates of loneliness (20.2%), feeling depressed (20.2%), loss of interest (19.7%) or anxiety (22.5%). Mean score for positive mental health (59.3/100, with a higher score indicating better mental health) was lower than that reported in a national sample in 2007 (68/100); positive mental health was associated with not living with a person with chronic illness, self-identifying as ‘non-Irish’ and greater age. Mean score for psychological distress (76.7/100, with a higher score indicating less distress) was also lower than that in 2007 (82/100); less psychological distress was associated with not living with a person with chronic illness or disability, greater age and identifying as non-Irish. The rate of ‘probable mental illness’ over the previous 4 weeks (13.1%) was higher than in 2007 (7%).

Conclusions

Our findings emphasise the high prevalence of stress, especially in deprived suburban areas; the centrality of carer burden in determining mental wellbeing; and associations between positive mental health on the one hand and greater age and identifying as non-Irish on the other.

Keywords

CommunitydeprivationIrelandmental disorderspopulationpoverty areasprevalencesurveys and questionnairesself-rated healthsuburban health
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2022 , pp. 8 - 19
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2019. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ayuso-Mateos, JL, Lasa, L, Vázquez-Barquero, JL, Oviedo, A, Diez-Manrique, JF (1999). Measuring health status in psychiatric community surveys: internal and external validity of the Spanish version of the SF-36. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 99, 26–32.10.1111/j.1600-0447.1999.tb05381.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barry, MM, Van Lente, E, Molcho, M, Morgan, K, McGee, H, Conroy, RM, Watson, D, Shelley, E, Perry, I (2009). SLÁN 2007: Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition in Ireland: Mental Health and Social Well-being Report (Department of Health and Children). The Stationery Office: Dublin.Google Scholar
Bijl, RV, Ravelli, A (2000). Current and residual functional disability associated with psychopathology: findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS). Psychological Medicine 30, 657–668.10.1017/S0033291799001841CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchflower, DG, Oswald, AJ (2008). Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle? Social Science and Medicine 66, 1733–1749.10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.030CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanco, V, Rohde, P, Vázquez, FL, Torres, Á (2014). Identification of caregivers at greatest risk of major depression in two prevention studies. Psychotherapy Research 24, 578–593.10.1080/10503307.2013.847989CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannell, CF, Marquis, KH, Laurent, A (1977). A summary of studies of interviewing methodology. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 2 69, 1–78.Google Scholar
Cullen, P (2013). Irish believe recession is bad for mental health. Irish Times September 18.Google Scholar
Daly, A, Craig, S (2016). (HRB Statistics Series 29: Activities of Irish Psychiatric Units and Hospitals 2015. Health Research Board: Dublin.Google Scholar
Daly, A, Craig, S (2017). HRB Statistics Series 35: Activities of Irish Psychiatric Units and Hospitals 2016. Health Research Board: Dublin.Google Scholar
Darker, CD, Donnelly-Swift, E, Whiston, L, Moore, F, Barry, JM (2016). Determinants of self-rated health in an Irish deprived suburban population - a cross sectional face-to-face household survey. BMC Public Health 16, 767.10.1186/s12889-016-3442-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darker, C, Whiston, L, Long, J, Donnelly-Swift, E, Barry, J (2014). Health Assets and Needs Assessment (HANA) Tallaght, 2014. Trinity College Dublin, Adelaide Health Foundation and Tallaght Hospital: Dublin.Google Scholar
Doherty, AM, Kelly, BD (2010). Social and psychological correlates of happiness in seventeen European countries. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 27, 130–134.10.1017/S0790966700001294CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duffy, RM, Mullin, K, O’Dwyer, S, Wrigley, M, Kelly, BD (2016). The economic recession and subjective well-being in older adults in the Republic of Ireland. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine [Epub ahead of print, 12 May] 10.1017/ipm.2016.21.Google Scholar
European Opinion Research Group (2003). The Mental Health Status of the European Population. European Commission: Brussels.Google Scholar
Evans-Lacko, S, Knapp, M, McCrone, P, Thornicroft, G, Mojtabai, R (2013). The mental health consequences of the recession: economic hardship and employment of people with mental health problems in 27 European countries. PLoS One 8, e69792.10.1371/journal.pone.0069792CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Expert Group on Mental Health Policy (2006). A Vision for Change. The Stationery Office: Dublin.Google Scholar
Friedman, B (2005). Validity of the SF-36 five-item Mental Health Index for major depression in functionally impaired, community-dwelling elderly patients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 53, 1978–1985.10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00469.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedrich, MJ (2017). Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world. JAMA 317, 1517.Google ScholarPubMed
Groot, W (2000). Adaptation and scale of reference bias in self-assessments of quality of life. Journal of Health Economics 19, 403–420.10.1016/S0167-6296(99)00037-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hawkes, N (2012). Happiness is a U-shaped curve, highest in the teens and 70s, shows survey. BMJ 344, e1534.10.1136/bmj.e1534CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Healthy Ireland (2017). Healthy Ireland Survey 2017: Summary of Findings. Government Publications: Dublin.Google Scholar
Helliwell, J, Layard, R and Sachs, J, (eds.) (2016). World Happiness Report 2016 Update Vol. 1. Sustainable Development Solutions Network: New York.Google Scholar
Holmes, WC (1988). A short, psychiatric, case-finding measure for HIV seropositive outpatients: performance characteristics of the 5-item mental health subscale of the SF-20 in a male, seropositive sample. Medical Care 36, 237–243.10.1097/00005650-199802000-00012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houghton, F, Keane, N, Murphy, N, Houghton, S, Dunne, C (2011). Tertiary level students and the Mental Health Index (MHI-5) in Ireland. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies 10, 40–48.Google Scholar
Jowell, R, Central Coordinating Team (2007). European Social Survey 2006/2007: Technical Report. Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University: London.Google Scholar
Jylhä, M (2009). What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. Social Science and Medicine 69, 307–316.10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.05.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katz, MH (1999). Multivariable Analysis. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2016). Hearing Voices: The History of Psychiatry in Ireland. Irish Academic Press: Dublin.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD, Doherty, AM (2013). Impact of recent economic problems on mental health in Ireland. International Psychiatry 10, 6–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Kelly, BD, Sorin, GM, Barry, JM, Whiston, L, Donnelly-Swift, E, Darker, C (2018). Community-based, cross-sectional study of self-reported health in post-recession Ireland: what has changed? QJM 111, 555–559.10.1093/qjmed/hcy113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelly, A, Teljeur, C (2013). The National Deprivation Index for Health and Health Services Research. Trinity College Dublin. Dublin.Google Scholar
Kessler, RC, Üstün, TB (2008). The WHO World Mental Health Surveys: Global Perspectives on the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Kovess, V, Beaudet, MP (2001). Concepts and measurement of positive mental health. Psychiatria Fennica 32 (suppl. 2): 14–34.Google Scholar
Lavikainen, J, Fryers, T and Lehtinen, V, (eds.). 2006). Improving Mental Health Information in Europe. Proposal of the MINDFUL Project. STAKES: Helsinki.Google Scholar
Layes, A, Asada, Y, Kepart, G (2012). Whiners and deniers: what does self-rated health measure? Social Science and Medicine 75, 1–9.10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.030CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Long, J, O’Loughlin, R, O’Keefe, F, O’Dowd, T (2002). People Living in Tallaght and their Health: A Community Based, Cross-Sectional Survey. Department of Community Health and general Practice, Trinity College Dublin: Dublin.Google Scholar
MacÉinrí, P (2001). Immigration into Ireland. Irish Centre for Migration Studies: Cork.Google Scholar
McCabe, CJ, Thomas, KJ, Brazier, JE, Coleman, P (1996). Measuring the mental health status of a population: a comparison of the GHQ-12 and the SF-36 (MHI-5). British Journal of Psychiatry 169, 516–521.10.1192/bjp.169.4.516CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDowell, I, Newell, C (1996). Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press: New York.Google Scholar
National Office for Suicide Prevention (2017). Annual Report 2016. Health Service Executive: Dublin.Google Scholar
Ware, JE, Snow, KK, Kosinski, M, Gandek, B (1993). SF-36 Health Survey: Manual and Interpretation Guide. The Health Institute, New England Medical Center: Boston.Google Scholar
Wilson, FE, Hennessy, E, Dooley, B, Kelly, BD, Ryan, DA (2013). Trauma and PTSD rates in an Irish psychiatric population: a comparison of native and immigrant samples. Disaster Health 1, 74–83.10.4161/dish.27366CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (2017). Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders: Global Health Estimates. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar