UK study shows teenagers growing up in deprived areas with less green space and higher levels of crime are more likely to experience psychological distress.
Researchers from University College London followed nearly 8,400 children born in Great Britain between 2000 and 2002, tracking them from birth to age 17.
They linked detailed environmental data to participants’ home addresses at multiple points throughout childhood, allowing them to examine how local conditions may be associated with mental health outcomes.
The findings, published in Environment International, show 16% of teenagers experienced mental health problems by the time they were 17, while 10.5% had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety.
Children living in more deprived neighbourhoods, areas with higher crime, and places with less green space and more ‘grey space’ (roads and concrete), were more likely to report mental health problems. These patterns appeared early in life and continued into adolescence.
‘Built and social environments from early childhood onwards were significant correlates of adolescent common mental disorders,’ the researchers wrote.
In fact, growing up in lower-quality environments increased the odds of high psychological distress by up to 22%.
Perhaps unexpectedly, the study also found living close to the sea was linked with higher odds of mental illness, including diagnosed depression or anxiety.
The researchers point to growing evidence of health disparities in UK coastal communities, where poorer education, job opportunities and public services may outweigh any benefits of seaside living.
The picture for air pollution was more complicated. While exposure to fine particles (PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) and ozone showed some links to mental health problems, the associations were less consistent and appeared to be influenced by other neighbourhood factors like deprivation.
One of the most striking discoveries was that the association between poor built and social environments and mental health was actually stronger in low-density rural areas than in cities.
Experts suggest in rural communities – where services are often scarce and mental health stigma can be higher – even small environmental disadvantages may have a greater impact on vulnerable teenagers.
The research, which can be read in full here, draws on the Millennium Cohort Study and uses highly detailed location data to better understand how environment and health interact.
‘The gap between mental health problems and service utilisation is larger in more deprived neighbourhoods,’ the authors noted.
With mental disorders now affecting one in four young adults in England – a 50% rise since 2007 – the findings carry urgent implications. ‘Enhancing the quality of built and social environments may offer population-level benefits for adolescent mental health,’ the researchers concluded.
Image: Helena Lopes/UnSplash
In related news:
Leave a Reply