Numerous environmental factors are associated with adult mental health in the general population

What is it about?

Using a novel statistical approach,network analysis, we examined how a range of environmental characteristics are related to multiple aspects of population mental health: well-being, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. We included a range of environmental factors and both self-report and registry data. The results showed that there were numerous associations between environmental factors and population mental health. In particular, recent discrimination was associated with more mental illness symptoms and less well-being, whereas a supportive social environment was associated with higher well-being and lower levels of mental illness symptoms. The results were replicated in an independent sample.

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Photo by Su San Lee on Unsplash

Photo by Su San Lee on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Previous studies have found that environmental characteristics are related to mental health, but few have investigated how multiple environmental factors are related to each other and mental health in the population. The present study highlights the importance of environmental characteristics for multiple aspects of population mental health and identifies several environmental factors that may be particularly important for mental health in the general population.