Income and clinical depression versus non-clinical mental health: Same associations or different structures? A dissociation strategy using a national representative random survey based on EUROHIS (INHIS-2).

Abstract

We use a unique, large survey on health conditions conducted in Israel (10,331 respondents, 52.8% females, mean age 49.8) to explore whether clinical determined depression and/or anxiety has different associations in compare to non-clinical determined terms such as mental health. We find that absolute income is significantly associated with a decrease in negative mental health but have no significant association with depression and/or anxiety prevalence, whereas relative income is significantly associated with a decrease in depression and/or anxiety prevalence but have no significant association with negative mental health. The two specifications differed also with respect to several important risk factors, including personal attributes such as being of African origin, of a non-Jewish Arab minority or divorced. However, they were similar with general characteristics, such as participation in sport and smoking activities, whether a person has children, age and gender. Our results put forth sever questions about the wide use of non-clinical mental health, happiness and wellbeing as a sole proxy for a person's true wellbeing or utility.