Social determinants of mental health: the roles of traumatic events, financial strain, housing instability, food insecurity, and commute time

Abstract

Objective

To identify social determinants of mental health embedded within college students' living and learning conditions.

Participants

Participants included 215 mostly undergraduate (95%) business students at a diverse, urban west coast public university (48% women; mean age 24).

Methods

Participants completed an online self-report survey measuring affective state, global mental health, anxious and depressive symptoms, as well as social determinants of mental health. Data were analyzed using multiple regression controlling for self-esteem, gender, and race/ethnicity.

Results

Results suggest that higher family income is positively related to mental health, whereas more adverse events (e.g., assault, robbery, serious illness or injury), food insecurity, and commute time are negatively related to mental health. Moderation results indicate a moderate buffering effect of belonging on global mental health among students who experience zero adverse events.

Conclusions

Social determinants can shed light on student's precarious living and learning conditions and resultant effects on students' mental health.

Keywords:

• adverse life events
• commute time
• food insecurity
• low-income
• social determinants of mental health

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the San Francisco State University Institutional Review Board.

Notes

1 The original scale⁶⁰ included nine items; due to a clerical error, we omitted one item ("Had a relative or close friend go to jail").