Age, sex and period estimates of Australia's mental health over the last 17 years

Richard A Burns; Peter Butterworth; Dimity A Crisp

Journal article

Age, sex and period estimates of Australia's mental health over the last 17 years

Richard A Burns, Peter Butterworth, Dimity A Crisp

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry | SAGE Publications | Published : 2020

DOI: 10.1177/0004867419888289

Abstract

Objective: Describing the long-term mental health of Australians is limited as many reports rely on cross-sectional studies which fail to account for within-person changes and age-related developmental processes which may bias estimates which ignore these phenomena. We examined the 17-year trajectories of mental health in 27,519 Australian adults. Methods: Household panel data of 27,519 participants aged 18 years and over from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey provided at least one observation of mental health over a 17-year period from 2001. On average, participants reported 7.6 observations. Mental Health was assessed annually using the Short-Form Health Survey..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Peter Butterworth Author Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the author and should not be attributed to either DSS or the Melbourne Institute.