The association between residential area characteristics and mental health outcomes among men and women in Belgium

AIM: Recently, interest has grown in the association between contextual factors and health outcomes. This study questions whether mental health complaints vary according to the socio-economic characteristics of the residential area where people live. The gender-specific patterns are studied. METHODS: Complaints of depression and generalized anxiety were measured by means of the relevant subscales of the Symptoms Checklist 90-Revised. Multilevel models were estimated with PASW statistics 18, based on a unique dataset, constructed by merging data from the Belgian Health Interview Surveys from 2001 and 2004 with data from 264 municipalities derived from Statistics Belgium and the General Socio-Economic Survey. MAIN FINDINGS: The results of this exploratory study indicate that the local unemployment rate is associated with complaints of depression among women. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that policy should approach the male and female population differently when implementing mental health prevention campaigns.