Estimating the Impact of Poverty on the Development of Mental Illness

Abstract

Existing studies within the field of health economics have identified a negative causal relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health and have begun to investigate underlying mechanisms for the purpose of designing more effective welfare policies. By evaluating the impact of psychoeconomic factors associated with poverty and economic hardship, I hope to add a nuanced understanding of how these factors can interact to adversely affect mental health by furthering the development or occurrence of mood disorders. Using OLS estimation techniques, my findings indicate that there is a strong correlation between conditions of impoverishment and symptomatic experiences of anxiety and depression, such that an individual who lives at or below the poverty threshold is susceptible to experiencing more pronounced symptoms of anxiety and depression than an individual who does not experience income constraints.