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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 11/2015

01-11-2015 | Review

Neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Robin Richardson, Tracy Westley, Geneviève Gariépy, Nichole Austin, Arijit Nandi

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 11/2015

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Abstract

Purpose

The evidence linking neighborhood socioeconomic conditions (NSEC) with depression is mixed. We performed a systematic review of this literature, including a rigorous quality assessment that was used to explore if methodological or contextual factors explained heterogeneity across studies.

Methods

A systematic literature search in three databases identified longitudinal studies among adolescents and adults living in high-income countries. Two independent reviewers screened studies for inclusion and performed data abstraction. We conducted a formal quality assessment and investigated sources of study heterogeneity.

Results

Our database search identified 3711 articles, 84 of which were determined to be potentially relevant, and 14 articles were included in this review. About half of the studies found a significant association between NSEC and depression, and pooled estimates suggest poorer socioeconomic conditions were associated with higher odds of depression (OR = 1.14, 95 % CI 1.01, 1.28). Study results varied by follow-up time. Among studies with less than 5 years of follow-up, there was a significant association between NSEC and depression (OR = 1.28, 95 % CI 1.13, 1.44), although pooling of study results may not be warranted due to heterogeneity across studies. Among studies with at least 5 years of follow-up, which were homogeneous, there was no association (OR = 1.00, 95 % CI 0.95, 1.06) between NSEC and depression.

Conclusions

We found inconsistent evidence in support of a longitudinal association between NSEC and depression, and heterogeneity according to the length of follow-up time might partly explain the mixed evidence observed in the literature on NSEC and depression.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors
Robin Richardson
Tracy Westley
Geneviève Gariépy
Nichole Austin
Arijit Nandi
Publication date
01-11-2015
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 11/2015
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1092-4

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