social and environmental risk factors for psychological disorders Flashcards
what is the social gradient
depression increases with decreasing level of education, employment
typical of most psychological disorders
how does income inequality affect depression
another social gradient where income inequality in a country is proportional to the percentage of the population with a mental illness
(germany, spain and italy are outliers)
USA and UK are worst
Note: covid has exacerbated inequalities and is likely to carry over into mental health
how does social capital and comparison exacerbate risk for psychological disorders
Natural experiment White et al
Communities first program of neighbourhood regeneration delivered to the 100 most deprived of 881 electoral wards in Wales
Longitudinal cohort study, matched to what was going on in their community area
Regeneration programme linked to reduced mental health problems in areas receiving intervention compared to controls of areas not part of the program
More confidence in this as a causal effect
Risk factors for conviction particularly in low income boys
IV: % area deprivation - 405 on acorn scale, measure of deprivation
Risk of antisocial behaviour compared to match control depending on affluence of surrounding areas
Distributed along a range of
Suggestion of perception of relative social inequalities
what is the relationship between SES mental health and genetic risk
neighbourhoods show social gradients across different outcomes
those at highest genetic risk showed highest gradients for poor outcomes
how can genetically information tell us about environmetnal effects
perception of SES matters as much as actual SES
MZ twin difference design
testing associations between differences in non-shared environment and differences in behavioural outcomes
adolescents perceptions of family social status was correlated with health and life chance twin differences over and above actual SES
how is actual limited access to green space a mental health risk factor
Interested in relationship of neighbourhood green space and mental health
And explanations for why this should exist
Data from satellite receptors to use geospatial mapping coded by individual raters
Differences between pairs of identical twins who have moved away from home and have varying access to green space
Found that twins with greater access to green space reported fewer symptoms of depression, but not stress or anxiety (would be expected if this is causal)
Control of genes, childhood environment, activity level and income
what are conditioned social defeat and the loser effect
Repeatedly exposed to social defeat by pairing with larger more dominant hamster until smaller hamster shows conditioned defeat
Subsequently a very small weak hamster is paired with the conditioned defeat hamster shows submissive behaviour
Thus impacts subsequent interactions
how is being bullied an environmentally mediated risk factor for maladjustment
Repeatedly put in a position where you cannot defend yourself
Being bullied is harmful for mental health - compared to MZ co-twin who had not been bullied
Look identical and have same environment (so no clear reason for difference in bullying) but significant impact on behaviour and mental health
Comorbidity with anxiety and depressive disorders
how can reactivity to stress explain the impact of bullying
cortical dysregulation in response to stress (typical response would be higher cortisol regulation)
Psychosocial stress: given a very difficult maths challenge with no feedback, of increasing speed
Following this lab coat wearing researcher instructs them to speak of a negative experience in front of a camera while someone takes notes
Adjusted for •Gender, concurrent depression, previous depression, behavioural problems, IQ, social class, maternal education, maternal depression , maltreatment
Before, during and after stressor Ouellet-Morin et al. (2011) J
Non-bullied twin showed higher cortisol regulation whereas bullied twin shows cortisol dysregulation
what is the association between cortisol problems according to victimisation
maladaptive lower stress response as a result of maltreatment or bullying
Lower stress response increases risk for social problems, emotional problems, behavioural problems and borderline personality risk
what is the social defeat hypothesis of schizophrenia
probabilistic model environmental risk factors lead to social defeat
which can cause sensitisation of the mesolimbic DA system resulting in schizophrenia
this doesn’t happen without DA sensitisation
can be altered by protective factors like ethnic density and social support
can be caused by use of ilicit drugs without social defeat too
what do the hazard ratios for schizophrenia and other non-affective psychotic disorders by refugee and sex tell us
Increased risk for scz among refugee migrants
Implicates stress levels of being a marginalised refugee over and above immigration
Trauma, war, migration, being othered
Environmental adversity
(ukranians?)
no sex differnces
how do adverse childhood experiences contribute to cumulative risk of mental health disorders
increases risk of developing a given psychological disorder
Hunger, schooling, health care, housing, local crime
As perceived social support increases, risk of negative outcome decreases even with exposure to ACS
what is the social contagion effect
Facebook study . Kramer et al. PNAS 2014
Users of facebook
Manipulated emotional expressions in newsfeed - positive vs negative
Algorithm to look at emotional content of what people subsequently posted
Exposure to more negative material led to more negative posts
Exposure to more positive material led to more positive posts
Using data based on T&Cs that no one reads
Manipulation on large scale of people’s emotions
Example of opt out consent which is not the standard for manipulation of emotions (SHould be opt in)
Large scale effect of emotional contagion
Can’t randomise people to experience risk; can remove risk factors and measure improvements (particularly if there is uncertainty about whether or not it is a risk factor)
Limiting time on social media
Shared iphone battery screenshots
Using less social media than normal reduces depression
Could still use other devices - would expect no effect if this was the case
Particularly for individuals who are already depressed
More likely to pay attention to negative material
conclusions
Psychological disorders are complex and multifactorial – but social and environmental risk factors play an important role.
There are social inequalities in mental health – as deprivation increases (objective and subjective), so too does risk for poor mental health..
Where you live may matter.. Neighbourhood effects have been found for antisocial behaviour, and for depression (but note different mechanisms are likely here!)
Cumulative exposure to adversity may partially account for the increased risk experienced by those living in deprived areas..
Social contagion may also play a role..
