Downward mobility increases depression risk among men

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows that downward mobility hits men far more than women, putting them at risk of depression.
The Newcastle Thousand Families Study involves a group of men and women who were born in 1947 in the English city. Information on social class was gathered at birth, at age 25 and again at age 50. The survey showed that living standards in Britain have generally improved since 1947 and life expectancy has gone up by 8.5 years.

However, the status of some of the group had decreased during their lives and the researchers wanted to see if this was linked to depression. More women than men were clinically depressed at age 50 and twice as many reported downward mobility. But a woman's risk of depression was linked to social class at birth, while a man's was not.

Instead, downwardly mobile men were three and a half times more likely to be depressed than downwardly mobile women. And they were four times more likely to be depressed than men whose social class was the same. Changes in employment in this area - where manufacturing has given way to the service industries - may have had an impact on the mental health of men through affecting their socioeconomic status.

Source
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health September 2005

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