Socio-economic status in early childhood and severe mental illness: an empirical investigation of Danish men born in 1981

Abstract

Severe mental illnesses are often burdensome, as they have an early onset. This paper examines the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) in early childhood and the probability of developing schizophrenia, affective disorders and personality disorders. We use longitudinal register data on all Danish men born in 1981 and control for family factors one year before their birth. The results show that men born in low-income families are more likely to be hospitalized with affective disorders. Men born into families where the father was not employed at the child's birth are more likely to be hospitalized with schizophrenia or personality disorder than men born into families where the father was a wage earner. The relative differences in the predicted probabilities of developing mental illnesses are large when we compare children who grew up in families with average characteristics to children who grew up in families with low SES.

Keywords:

• childhood socio-economic status
• severe mental illness
• Danish administrative data
• cohort study

Acknowledgements

This work was financed by the Rockwool Foundation. The Rockwool Foundation had no involvement in the project. All data used in this study are in anonymized form, and no ethical violations have taken place in the preparation or conduction of this work. Use of Danish register data has been granted to me by the relevant authorities. I thank Louise Herrup Nielsen and Kristian Hedeager Bentsen for research assistance. Tor Eriksson, Signe Hald Andersen, Eskil Heinesen and Torben Tranæs provided very helpful comments.