During the COVID 19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs as many companies had aggressively retrenched their workforce in order to sustain expenses. Due to this many people had to deal with increased mental health problems not just because of the pandemic but also the additional burden of managing finances. Citing the situation, a new study has shed some light on the correlation between mental health and financial stability.
According to a study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) published in the ‘Science Advances’ journal, people with social, physical and financial assets were less likely to sustain depression in the first year of the pandemic.
According to the study, 1 out of 5 adults had experienced persistent depression both in the beginning of the pandemic in March and April 2020 and one year later, but people that had more savings and higher income were less likely to experience fewer depressive symptoms.
The findings also showed that people with relationship problems, job losses and financial difficulties were more prone to depression in the first year of the pandemic.
This is a first of a kind that examines the association of assets and depression across the US in the first year of the pandemic.
According to a study made by lead author Catherine Ettman, executive director of strategy and planning at BUSPH, high rates of depression have been observed since the beginning of the pandemic that has persisted throughout the year, especially amongst those with fewer assets.
People whose income was under $20,000 were more likely to experience depression, compared to those whose income was $75,000 or more. Similarly, people with less than $5,000 savings were more likely to experience depression compared to those whose savings were more than $5,000. People who were earning with a high school degree were more likely to experience depression than those who had a college degree or more. Also, people who were not married were likely to experience depression compared to those who were married.