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Cited by 1,411Health disparities and outcomesPublic Health and Social InequalitiesMental Health Treatment and Access

Social determinants of mental health

Allen, Jessica, Balfour, Reuben, Bell, Ruth, Marmot, Michael·2014·International Review of Psychiatry
DOI 10.3109/09540261.2014.928270
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Abstract

A person's mental health and many common mental disorders are shaped by various social, economic, and physical environments operating at different stages of life. Risk factors for many common mental disorders are heavily associated with social inequalities, whereby the greater the inequality the higher the inequality in risk. The poor and disadvantaged suffer disproportionately, but those in the middle of the social gradient are also affected. It is of major importance that action is taken to improve the conditions of everyday life, beginning before birth and progressing into early childhood, older childhood and adolescence, during family building and working ages, and through to older age. Action throughout these life stages would provide opportunities for both improving population mental health, and for reducing risk of those mental disorders that are associated with social inequalities. As mental disorders are fundamentally linked to a number of other physical health conditions, these actions would also reduce inequalities in physical health and improve health overall. Action needs to be universal: across the whole of society and proportionate to need. Policy-making at all levels of governance and across sectors can make a positive difference.

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Crossref · 10.3109/09540261.2014.928270

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  • Where mental ill health intersects with its known drivers (such as poverty and poor living standards, gender-based violence, discrimination based on sexuality, gender identity, and ethnicity), and where there is trauma from colonisation, displacement, and violations of human rights, opportunities for power are even more diminished.

    “Where mental ill health intersects with its known drivers (such as poverty and poor living standards, gender-based violence, discrimination based on sexuality, gender identity, and ethnicity), and where there is trauma from colonisation, displacement, and violations of human rights, 491-496 opportunities for power are even more diminished.”

    From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [495]

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Authors
Allen, J., Balfour, R., Bell, R., & Marmot, M.
Affiliations
University College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Bell, Ruth
ORCID
Venue
International Review of Psychiatry
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2014-08
Volume
26
Issue
4
Pages
392-407
ISSN
  • 0954-0261 (ISSN-L)
  • 1369-1627
DOI
10.3109/09540261.2014.928270
OpenAlex
W2125056954
Cited by
1,411
References
23
Citations by year
2026: 99 · 2025: 141 · 2024: 164 · 2023: 186 · 2022: 156 · 2021: 162 · 2020: 152 · 2019: 120 · 2018: 98 · 2017: 58 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 3
FWCI
56.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • International Review of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • British Heart Foundation (RG/07/008/23674)
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ES/F02679X/1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Health › Public Health and Social Inequalities
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
social determinants of mental health, social inequality, mental illness, social gradient, life course, early childhood, adolescence, family building, working age, old age, health policy, risk factors
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Mental Disorders, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Poverty, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Unemployment, Social Determinants of Health

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