Depression in Sardinian immigrants in Argentina and residents in Sardinia at the time of the Argentinian default (2001) and the Great Recession in Italy (2015).
The aim of this study is to measure in two samples of Sardinian immigrants in Buenos Aires and representatives of the population in Sardinia the prevalence of depressive symptoms at the time of an economic crisis in Sardinia and to compare these results with those collected at the time of a similar crisis in Argentina more than 10 years before.



Observational study. The associations of Sardinian immigrants in Buenos Aires provided the lists of families of Sardinian origin. A random sample of one fifth of registered families was selected. The sample of a study carried out in Sardinia was used as the control. The results were compared with those of the previous study performed in 2001-2002. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) was used for the screening of depression.



The Sardinian immigrants show a lower rate of scoring positively on PHQ9 (i.e. less risk of being depressed) and reach statistical significance after standardization (8.7% vs. 13.1%, P = 0.046). Young women (≤40) are at higher risk. On the contrary, the risk of depression was higher in Sardinian immigrants in Argentina during the 2001-2002 crises.



The study indicates a risk for depressive episodes linked to the fallout of the economic crisis (in Argentina in 2001-2002, in Sardinia in 2015) and specifically more in females than in males. Due to the associated socio-demographic risk factors, these results could be interpreted as due to an increase in non-bipolar depression.
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy. mgcarta@tiscali.it.
Mauro Giovanni
MG
Carta
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Michela
M
Atzeni
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Silvia
S
D'Oca
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Alessandra
A
Perra
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Ernesto
E
D'Aloja
Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Maria Veronica
MV
Brasesco
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Maria Francesca
MF
Moro
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Luigi
L
Minerba
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Federica
F
Sancassiani
Department of Public Health, Clinical and Molecular Medicine, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Daniela
D
Moro
Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Gustavo
G
Mausel
King's College, London, UK.
Dinesh
D
Bhugra
D000328:Adult; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors