Local Economic Inequality and Depression: Evidence From Longitudinal Data on Local Residential Contexts and Antidepressant Use
利用丹麦60,654,690人次的纵向行政数据，研究发现经济不平等对抑郁症的平均影响为负向（不平等每增加一个标准差，抑郁概率相对降低1%-2%），但这一效应掩盖了异质性：仅对当地相对富裕者有益，而低收入者抑郁倾向随不平等上升而增加。
We studied the consequences of economic inequality for depression among adults using individual-level longitudinal administrative data from Denmark ( n = 60,654,690 person time points). The data allow us to (a) measure depression without nonresponse (by proxy of redemption of prescriptions for antidepressants), (b) measure income inequality at a low level of aggregation to capture individuals’ everyday experiences, (c) conduct within-individual analyses from stable individual characteristics to address confounding, and (d) test whether inequality has similar consequences for people located differently in the local income distribution. In contrast to previous work, we found a modest negative average effect of economic inequality (a 1- SD increase in inequality is associated with a 1%–2% relative decrease in the probability of depression). However, this average masks substantial heterogeneity: The negative effect was confined to the locally relatively well-off, whereas those with the lowest relative income tended to become more depressed as inequality rose.