title: How financial hardship is associated with the onset of mental health problems over time.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Poor mental health has been consistently linked with the experience of financial hardship and poverty. However, the temporal association between these factors must be clarified before hardship alleviation can be considered as an effective mental health promotion and prevention strategy. We examined whether the longitudinal associations between financial hardship and mental health problems are best explained by an individual's current or prior experience of hardship, or their underlying vulnerability.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed nine waves (years: 2001-2010) of nationally representative panel data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (n = 11,134). Two components of financial hardship (deprivation and cash-flow problems) and income poverty were coded into time-varying and time-invariant variables reflecting the contemporaneous experience of hardship (i.e., current), the prior experience of hardship (lagged/12 months), and any experience of hardship during the study period (vulnerability). Multilevel, mixed-effect logistic regression models tested the associations between these measures and mental health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents who reported deprivation and cash-flow problems had greater risk of mental health problems than those who did not. Individuals vulnerable to hardship had greater risk of mental health problems, even at the times they did not report hardship. However, their risk of mental health problems was greater on occasions when they did experience hardship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results are consistent with the argument that economic and social programmes that address and prevent hardship may promote community mental health.
authors: Centre for Research on Ageing Health and Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia, kim.kiely@anu.edu.au.
authors: Kim M
authors: KM
authors: Kiely
authors: Liana S
authors: LS
authors: Leach
authors: Sarah C
authors: SC
authors: Olesen
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Butterworth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult