Is there a link between low socio-economic status and high level of mental health problems

Effect Of Socioeconomic Status On Mental Illness
Effect Of
Socioeconomic
Status On Mental
Illness

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Socio-economic status and mental illness 1

Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 2
Topic and research question .............................................................................................................. 2
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Literature Review ............................................................................................................................... 5
Different aspects of low socioeconomic status ............................................................................. 6
Social interconnection of mental illness ........................................................................................ 7
Environmental problems as cause of Mental illness ...................................................................... 7
Analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 9
References ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Socio-economic status and mental illness 2

Abstract
This study is aimed at finding out the relation of socio-economic status with the extent of
mental disorders in an individual. The study was done by carrying secondary research by
intensive evaluation of the existing literature by various researchers pertaining to the topic
of the study. The various sources for the literature review were the research articles
available in journals, books and various other periodicals. The study undertaken clearly
shows that there is correlation between low socio-economic status and high rate of mental
illness. To be more precise, the individuals from a low SES group are about two and a half
times more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for psychiatric illnesses than people with a
higher socio-economic status. However the different aspects associated with low
socioeconomic status varies according to studies as mentioned earlier. Two of the many
concept of low social economic status that has been discussed and taken as basis of this
study are: social interconnection and environmental problems of mental health disorders.
Topic and research question
The study aims to find out the correlation between the low socioeconomic status which
will be referred to as SES throughout the report and the frequency and intensity of mental
disorders in these individuals. The topic for study emerged from the related studies done
before by many researchers which researched about the links and evidences of the link
between the low SES and mental health problems. May scholars hypothesised the initial
interpretations of the well-documented association concerning low socioeconomic status
and mental illness. (Miech, Caspi, Moffitt, Wright & Silva 2008) Mental health problems
do affect many people and the epidemiological studies revealed that the prevalence rate of
mental disorders amongst young adulthood was very high. Approximately, 25% to 40% of
young adults in developed nations met the diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric illness.
Socio-economic status and mental illness 3

However this percentage is quite high for the people who are economically and socially
backward and the reasons have been studied in the subsequent sections of the report.
The Research question for the study hence became as follows:
Is there a link between low socioeconomic status and the high rate of mental health
problems and how can this be reduce?
To arrive at a well-informed answer and correlation to this question the search for this
research question has been broken down into 3 search terms:
1. Low socioeconomic status
2. Mental health problems
3. Reduce the rate of mental health problems
Introduction
Low socioeconomic status can be referred to people who are poor, underprivileged, lower
income people and live absolute poverty and it will be abbreviated as Low- SES
throughout the report. Mental health problems are the disorders which affect the brain and
neural system and result in mental illness, psychiatric disorders and psychopathological
problems. One of the most consistent researches in the area of social sciences has been to
find out the relationship existing if any, between the socio-economic status of an
individual and the mental health. There are several findings showing the negative
correlation between the two that means lower is the socio-economic status lower is the
mental health of that individual. However, there have been notably inconsistent researches
to counter this point to question the causal nature of the relationship. The various research
questions which have been studied in the past by various researchers are:
 Does poor socioeconomic status of an individual predispose him or her to mental
disability?
Socio-economic status and mental illness 4

 Does pre-existing mental condition which is biological in nature result in the drift
of individuals into poor socioeconomic circumstances?
 Do the various conditions like unemployment, little family support, lousy work
conditions, or lack of autonomy act as the mediator to this effect?
The researchers studied these questions in the light of the guiding principle that the
relationship can only be defined by carrying out an interactive and nonlinear
relationship which should involve multiple conditions and particular types of mental
illness because even the best available longitudinal data sets do not allow proper
testing of the relevant...