Stress and depression among individuals with low socioeconomic status during economic inflation

Abstract

Financial hardship has been associated with increased levels of stress and can potentially lead to poor mental health and mental disorders. This study seeks to explore the association between stress due to inflation and depression in the United States (US). We hypothesized that inflation caused higher stress which was associated with increased depression among US adults. The Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) week 53 (January 4 – January 16, 2023), issued by US Census Bureau, comprises of survey data from randomly selected individuals across the nation with an approximately 6% response rate. The HPS survey includes 54,611 individuals, where nearly 75% of adults reported experiencing stress due to inflation. A significantly higher percentage of adults with stress reported depression (28.2% vs. 6.8%) compared to those without stress. When grouping individuals by socioeconomic status (SES), the association of stress with depression was more pronounced in the low SES group than those in the high SES group. These results suggest that stress has a stronger association with depression among individuals with lower SES status during periods of economic inflation. Our data indicate that interventions and support systems that address mental health issues related to stress may need to be tailored differently for individuals with varying socioeconomic backgrounds.