Developmental trajectories in mental health through adolescence and adulthood: does socio-economic status matter?

This study aims to examine the different aspects of socio-economic status (SES) patterns in mental health from adolescence into adulthood by investigating the mean, prevalence, cumulative incidence and trajectories of several mental health measures, including depressive symptoms, mental disorder diagnosis and medication use. The different aspects of SES are investigated through the measures of subjective social status (SSS) in school, SSS in society, income and parental educational level.

Individuals born in 1989 were followed from 2004 to 2021 with surveys at ages 15, 18, 21, 28 and 32 years, supplied with yearly register data. The mean level of depressive symptoms, yearly prevalence of medication use and cumulative incidence of mental disorder diagnosis were calculated for each SES group (low, middle and high) across each measure. Group-Based Trajectory Modelling (GBTM) was used to identify depressive symptom trajectories and logistic regressions were used to analyse the relative odds ratios (ROR) of membership to the different trajectory groups by characteristics.

Individuals with low SES at age 15 years across all SES measures showed higher mean depressive symptoms, prevalence of medication use and cumulative incidence of mental disorder diagnosis through adolescence and adulthood (age 15-32 years). Four depressive symptom trajectories were identified: low stable, moderate stable, decreasing and increasing trajectories. Being female, receiving medication or a mental disorder diagnosis in early adulthood and during the study period, having low SSS in school, parents not living together, being bullied, lacking support from teachers or classmates, lower levels of parents' support or higher school pressure resulted in higher RORs of membership to the other trajectory groups compared to the low stable trajectory, while having high SSS in society resulted in a lower ROR.

This is the first study to detect the role of social support in relation to depressive symptom trajectories. While individuals with low social status consistently experienced more negative mental health outcomes than those with middle and high social status in the study period (age 15-32 years), low SSS showed the strongest associations. This indicates that SSS may capture vulnerable individuals not identified by traditional SES. Being female, having low SES, low social support, and other mental health outcomes were associated with higher odds of being in trajectories with more depressive symptoms. Preventive initiatives should therefore target individuals with such characteristics. It is worth exploring whether adolescents with increasing depressive symptoms could benefit from increased social support.