Love and money the keys to mental health in Australia

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-02-15 06:00

Australia; NSW; WA

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Financial difficulties and relationship problems are key issues linked to poor mental health in Australia, according to Australian research. The team used data from a household income and labour study to compare the mental health of nearly 7,000 people with various lifestyle factors. The researchers say participants who had money troubles such as mortgage/rent stress, unemployment and difficulty affording food were more likely to have poor mental health, and younger people were more likely to have poor mental health than older people. Looking at the participants' relationship status, the researchers say those who were in a relationship they perceived as good had better mental health, but people who said their relationship had problems and they wished they were not in their relationship reported poor mental health, even if they reported genuinely loving their partner.

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conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Curtin University, The University of New South Wales, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), The University of Sydney

Funder: This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either the DSS or the Melbourne Institute.

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