The Emergence of Socioeconomic and Gender Gaps in Mental Health: A Longitudinal Study, 1900-1960 in Sweden.

Johan Junkka, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR), Umeå University
Glenn Sandström , Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR), Umeå University
Liselotte Eriksson, Umeå University
Frida Skog, Umeå University
Lotta Vikström, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR), Umeå University

The objective of this study is to assess whether socioeconomic and gender gaps in mental health has changed from 1900-1960 in Sweden. We use historical longitudinal micro-data with all necessary demographic information, data on individual occupational attainment and onsets of mental illnesses (N = 2,484) in a population of 193,323. Changes over time was tested using multilevel Cox proportional hazard models. We test how gender specific risk of mental illness change and how gender-specific socioeconomic status was related to risks of attaining mental illness later in life. We find a reversal in gender gaps in mental health over the study period. Women had lower risk than men in 1900 and higher risks in 1960. For men we find positive gradient in SES risks in 1900 and a negative gradient in 1960. For women we find no clear SES gradient in mental illness risks. These findings suggest that the contemporary patterns in socioeconomic and gender gaps in mental health emerged in Sweden in the early 20th century, coinciding with the growth of institutional psychiatry.

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 Presented in Session 93. Mental Health and Wellbeing