Danish investigators have found that moving to a new neighborhood during childhood may be associated with a higher risk of depression in adulthood, regardless of the level of neighborhood deprivation. The nationwide cohort study also suggested that living in more deprived neighborhoods during childhood could be linked to an increased likelihood of developing depression later in life.
In the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, the investigators followed 1.1 million individuals born in Denmark between 1982 and 2003 who resided in the country during their first 15 years of life. Data from the Danish Civil Registration System and the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register were used to track participants from 15 years of age until death, emigration, depression diagnosis, or December 31, 2018. During the follow-up period, 35,098 individuals (23,728 female participants) were diagnosed with depression.
After adjusting for individual-level factors, the investigators found a 2% increase in depression incidence for each 1 standard deviation increase in income deprivation (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.02, 95% credible interval [CrI] = 1.01–1.04). Moving during childhood was associated with significantly higher rates of depression in adulthood compared with not moving (IRR = 1.61, 95% CrI = 1.52–1.70 for 2 or more moves after full adjustment).
The investigators also revealed that being born in a neighborhood with lower mean income deprivation but residing in a neighborhood with higher mean income deprivation at 15 years of age was associated with an 18% higher rate of depression compared with the reference category. Conversely, being born in a neighborhood with higher mean income deprivation but residing in a neighborhood with lower mean income deprivation at 15 years of age was associated with a 13% higher rate of depression than the reference category.
The investigators suggested that a stable home environment during childhood may have a protective effect against depression. They acknowledged the study's limitations, including the use of depression diagnoses from specialist secondary care settings, which represented the more severe end of the depression spectrum, and the potential for residual confounding as a result of imperfect characterization of neighborhoods or measurement of covariates.
The study was conducted by researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, who analyzed data from a large cohort of individuals followed from childhood to adulthood. The findings highlighted the importance of considering childhood residential mobility and neighborhood deprivation as potential risk factors for depression in later life.
This large-scale study indicated that policies promoting stable childhood environments may help protect against the development of depression in adulthood. The investigators emphasized the need for further research to better understand the complex interplay between individual, family, and neighborhood factors that may contribute to the risk of depression.
The authors declared having no competing interests.