Abstract
In the wake of a global economic recession secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic, this scoping review seeks to summarize the current quantitative research on the impact of economic recessions on depression, anxiety, traumatic disorders, self-harm, and suicide. Seven research databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science: Core Collection, National Library of Medicine PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar) were searched for keywords returning 3412 preliminary results published since 2008 in Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD)nations. These were screened by both authors for inclusion/exclusion criteria resulting in 127 included articles. Articles included were quantitative studies in OECD countries assessing select mental disorders (depression, anxiety, and trauma-/stress-related disorders) and illness outcomes (self-harm and suicide) during periods of economic recession. Articles were limited to publication from 2008 to 2020, available online in English, and utilizing outcome measures specific to the disorders and outcomes specified above. A significant relationship was found between periods of economic recession and increased depressive symptoms, self-harming behaviour, and suicide during and following periods of recession. Results suggest that existing models for mental health support and strategies for suicide prevention may be less effective than they are in non-recession times. It may be prudent to focus public education and medical treatments on raising awareness and access to supports for populations at higher risk, including those vulnerable to the impacts of job or income loss due to low socioeconomic status preceding the recession or high levels of financial strain, those supporting others financially, approaching retirement, and those in countries with limited social safety nets. Policy makers should be aware of the potential protective nature of unemployment safeguards and labour program investment in mitigating these negative impacts. Limited or inconclusive data were found on the relationship with traumatic disorders and symptoms of anxiety. In addition, research has focused primarily on the working-age adult population with limited data available on children, adolescents, and older adults, leaving room for further research in these areas.
Highlights
Results suggest that existing models for mental health support and strategies for suicide prevention may be less effective than they are in non-recession times
There is a risk of reviewer bias inherent in this type of study, which was diminished by utilizing two reviewers in the article review process. The results of this scoping review suggest that general models for providing mental health support and strategies for suicide prevention may be less effective in reaching those whose mental health is negatively impacted by an economic recession than they are in non-recession times [14,15,80,95,97,98,99]
The populations found by most studies to primarily be effected by depression, self-harm, and suicide secondary to economic recession include men approaching retirement age, people with low education, high levels of unemployment or job insecurity, and low pre-recession socioeconomic status, yet those most likely to access mental health supports were found to be women and highly educated adults [14,15]
Summary
Since the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic was declared by the WHO on 11 March. 2020, world economies have been hit by numerous unprecedented market closures, supply chain, trade, and finance interruptions leading to a global economic recession. The. World Bank reported in June 2020 that the global economy would shrink by 5.2% in. 2020—the deepest recession since World War II—and that economic activity among advanced economies was anticipated to shrink 7% [1]. Per capita incomes were expected to decline by 3.6%, tipping millions of people into extreme poverty with the most severe impacts in countries where the pandemic has been the most severe and there is heavy reliance on global trade, tourism, commodity exports, and external financing [1].
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