Importance of thinking locally for mental health: data from cross-sectional surveys representing South East London and England.

Reliance on national figures may be underestimating the extent of mental ill health in urban communities. This study demonstrates the necessity for local information on common mental disorder (CMD) and substance use by comparing data from the South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study with those from a national study, the 2007 English Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Study (APMS)

Influence of perceived and actual neighbourhood disorder on common mental illness

Purpose: Fear of crime and perceived neighbourhood disorder have been linked to common mental illness (CMI). However, few UK studies have also considered the experience of crime at the individual and neighbourhood level. This study aims to identify individual and local area factors associated with increased perceived neighbourhood disorder and test associations between CMI and individuals’ perceptions of disorder in their neighbourhoods, personal experiences of crime and neighbourhood crime rates.  Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 1,698 adults living in 1,075 households in Lambeth and Southwark, London. CMI was assessed using the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression with neighbourhood defined as lower super output area.  Results: Individuals who reported neighbourhood disorder were more likely to suffer CMI (OR 2.12) as were those with individual experience of crime. These effects remained significant when individual characteristics were controlled for. While 14 % of the variance in perceived neighbourhood disorder occurred at the neighbourhood level, there was no significant variance at this level for CMI.  Conclusions: Perceived neighbourhood disorder is more common in income-deprived areas and individuals who are unemployed. Worry about one’s local area and individual experience of crime are strongly and independently associated with CMI, but neighbourhood crime rates do not appear to impact on mental health

Discrimination and common mental disorder among migrant and ethnic groups:findings from a South East London Community sample

Purpose Few studies have examined discrimination and mental health in the UK, particularly by migrant status and in urban contexts with greater demographic diversity. This study aims to (1) describe the prevalence of discrimination experiences across multiple life domains; (2) to describe associations between discrimination experiences and common mental disorder (CMD); (3) to determine whether or not the relationship between discrimination and CMD varies by migrant status and ethnicity. Methods Data on major, anticipated and everyday discrimination and CMD symptoms were collected from an ethnically diverse prospective sample of 1052 participants followed up from 2008 to 2013 in the South East London Community Health study, a population-based household survey. Results With few exceptions, discrimination was most prevalent among those in the Black Caribbean group. However, those in the White Other ethnic group had similar or greater reporting major and anticipated discrimination to Black or mixed ethnic minority groups. The effects of discrimination on CMD were most pronounced for individuals who had recently migrated to the UK, an ethnically heterogeneous group, and for Black and Mixed ethnic minority groups in partially adjusted models. Prior CMD accounted for differences between the Mixed and White British ethnic groups, but the strength of the association for the most recent migrant group and the Black ethnic groups remained two or more times greater than the reference groups. Conclusions The strength of the relationship suggests a need for more consideration of migration status along with ethnicity in examining the impact of discrimination on mental disorder in community and clinical samples