Treatment for depression in 63 countries worldwide: describing and explaining cross-national differences

This study describes differences between 63 countries in treatment for depression and explores explanations for these differences. Treatment for depression is measured as the overall chance that an individual receives treatment, plus as the chance to receive treatment given the presence of depressive symptoms. Using the World Health Survey (2002-2004, N=249,116), we find strong cross-national variation in the chance to receive treatment for depression. Additionally, multilevel regression analyses reveal that urbanization, employment status, marital status, level of education, gender, age, and national wealth all partly explain cross-national differences in the chance to receive treatment for depression.