Background: Mental health problems and financial difficulties each increase the risk of social exclusion. However, few large studies representing a broad age range have investigated the combined social effect of having both difficulties. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine associations of mental health problems, financial difficulties, and the combination of both with social exclusion.

Methods: This analysis was based on responses from 28,047 adults (age > 18 years) from the general population participating in The Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey 2019. Respondents answered questions about their financial situation, mental health problems, and social exclusion. Social exclusion was measured as a lack of social support, low participation in organized social activities, low participation in other activities, missing someone to be with, feeling excluded, and feeling isolated. Adjustments for sex and age were made in multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results: Having mental health problems or financial difficulties was associated with various measures of social exclusion (odds ratios [ORs] with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]: 1.33 [1.23-1.43] to 12.63 [10.90-14.64]). However, the odds of social exclusion strongly increased for respondents who reported a combination of mental health problems and financial difficulties compared with those who did not report either (ORs [CIs]: 2.08 [1.90-2.27] to 29.46 [25.32-34.27]).

Conclusions: Having the combination of mental health problems and financial difficulties is strongly associated with increased risk for social exclusion, far beyond the effect of either factor alone.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044315PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18555-1DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

mental health
28
health problems
28
social exclusion
28
problems financial
24
financial difficulties
24
social
11
cross-sectional study
8
risk social
8
low participation
8
difficulties associated
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!