Economic factors associated with county-level mental health – United States, 2019

Abstract

A better understanding of whether and how economic factors impact mental health can inform policy and program decisions to improve mental health. This study looked at the association between county-level economic factors and the prevalence of self-reported poor mental health among adults in United States counties in 2019, overall and disaggregated for urban and rural counties. General dominance analyses were completed to rank-order the relative influence of the selected variables in explaining county prevalence of adults reporting > 14 poor mental health days in the last 30 days (“poor mental health”). The highest weighted variables were assessed for the statistical significance of their relationships with county-level poor mental health through multiple linear regression. Across all models, the four highest-ranked economic factors were household income, receipt of Supplemental Security Income, population with a college degree, and receipt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The overall, rural, and urban models explained over 68% of the variation in poor mental health prevalence between counties. Urban and rural models showed notable differences in the top factors associated with poor mental health and opposite associations between poor mental health and population with public insurance. The findings from this study indicate a significant association between several economic factors and poor mental health, which may inform decision makers in addressing mental health in the United States.