Major depression in Cyprus amid financial crisis: prevalence and correlates. Issue 3 (3rd July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Economou, Marina; Souliotis, Kyriakos; Peppou, Lily Evangelia; Agapidaki, Irene; Tzavara, Chara; Stefanis, Costas N.
• Is Part Of: International journal of culture and mental health. Volume 11:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 255
• Page End: 267
• Publication Date: 2018-07-03
• Subjects: Recession -- unemployment -- financial hardship -- affective disorders -- social networks; Cultural psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry, Transcultural -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1080/17542863.2017.1364283
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-2863

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Major depression is a common mental health disorder and one of the most pressing public health concerns worldwide. No nationwide survey, which investigates the prevalence of a particular mental disorder, has ever been conducted in Cyprus. The present study aims to fill this gap by attempting to explore the prevalence and correlates of major depression in Cyprus amid financial crisis. A random and representative sample of 600 adult Cypriots participated in the study. The presence of major depression was assessed with the pertinent module of the Structured Clinical Interview (SCI-D), while the Index of Personal Economical Distress (IPED) was employed in order to measure participants' degree of financial strain. One-month prevalence of major depression was found to be 11.5%. A substantial proportion of the sample reported difficulties in paying household bills (40.9%), clothing (38.9%) and the supermarket (37.1%). Furthermore, female gender, divorced/widowed family status, low educational attainment, unemployment and financial hardship were found to be risk factors for major depression; whereas social networks and institutional trust were found to act in a protective manner. The present study suggests that the impact of financial crisis on mental health is unequally distributed among the general population in Cyprus, rendering certain subgroups particularly vulnerable.