Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 370; no. 6522
• Main Authors: Ridley, Matthew, Rao, Gautam, Schilbach, Frank, Patel, Vikram
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Association for the Advancement of Science 11.12.2020
• Subjects: Adolescents; Aggression; Anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety disorders; Cardiovascular diseases; Children; Climate change; Cognitive ability; Cognitive development; Coronary artery disease; Crime; Depression (Psychology); Depression - epidemiology; Developing countries; Diabetes mellitus; Digital media; Economic conditions; Economic development; Economic growth; Economics; Educational Attainment; Employment; Environmental stress; Evaluation; Evidence; Expenditures; Globalization; Health promotion; Heart diseases; High temperature; Housing; Humans; Illnesses; Income; Interdisciplinary aspects; Interdisciplinary research; Interdisciplinary studies; LDCs; Low Income; Low income areas; Low income groups; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Modeling (Psychology); Mood; Motor skill learning; Nutrition; Pandemics; Physical Health; Policies; Poverty; Pregnancy; Psychotherapy; Rain; Rainfall; Resistance (Psychology); Skill Development; Sleep; Social classes; Social interactions; Social Status; Technological change; Therapeutic applications; Toolkits; Trauma; Water pollution; Water supply; Weather; Well being; Youth
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aay0214

Mental equilibrium is essential for an economically productive life in both industrialized and developing countries. Accumulating evidence shows that mental ill-health and poverty tend to be traveling partners, but which is the cause? Ridley et al. reviewed the literature on natural and controlled economic experiments involving individuals living in poverty. The authors sought to resolve the mechanisms whereby poverty triggers mental illness and how mental illness compounds poverty. Their results reveal the benefits of cash support and of low-cost therapeutic interventions for those suffering from mental illness under poverty. Science , this issue p. eaay0214 Why are people who live in poverty disproportionately affected by mental illness? We review the interdisciplinary evidence of the bidirectional causal relationship between poverty and common mental illnesses—depression and anxiety—and the underlying mechanisms. Research shows that mental illness reduces employment and therefore income, and that psychological interventions generate economic gains. Similarly, negative economic shocks cause mental illness, and antipoverty programs such as cash transfers improve mental health. A crucial step toward the design of effective policies is to better understand the mechanisms underlying these causal effects.