Air pollution and depressive symptomatology: Exploratory analyses of intervening psychosocial factors

Jacobs, Stephen V.; Evans, Gary W.; Catalano, Ralph; Dooley, David

doi:10.1007/bf01256411

Cited by 43 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…While prior work focused on the relation between air pollution levels and perceived air quality [ 12 , 13 , 27 , 49 ], this is the first large scale study to investigate objectively measured air pollutant levels in association with non-specific perceived stress, where the range of air pollution levels observed in during the study period were unlikely to alter perceptions of air quality. The observed associations between air pollution and perceived stress may offer insight into recent findings linking air pollution with depressive symptoms and hospitalizations for depression in studies conducted in Korea and Canada [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Associations between air pollution and perceived stress: the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study

et al. 2015

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BackgroundThere is mixed evidence suggesting that air pollution may be associated with increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders. We aimed to investigate the association between air pollution and non-specific perceived stress, often a precursor to development of affective psychiatric disorders.MethodsThis longitudinal analysis consisted of 987 older men participating in at least one visit for the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study between 1995 and 2007 (n = 2,244 visits). At each visit, participants were administered the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which quantifies stress experienced in the previous week. Scores ranged from 0–56 with higher scores indicating increased stress. Differences in PSS score per interquartile range increase in moving average (1, 2, and 4-weeks) of air pollution exposures were estimated using linear mixed-effects regression after adjustment for age, race, education, physical activity, anti-depressant medication use, seasonality, meteorology, and day of week. We also evaluated effect modification by season (April-September and March-October for warm and cold season, respectively).ResultsFine particles (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide, and particle number counts (PNC) at moving averages of 1, 2, and 4-weeks were associated with higher perceived stress ratings. The strongest associations were observed for PNC; for example, a 15,997 counts/cm3 interquartile range increase in 1-week average PNC was associated with a 3.2 point (95%CI: 2.1-4.3) increase in PSS score. Season modified the associations for specific pollutants; higher PSS scores in association with PM2.5, BC, and sulfate were observed mainly in colder months.ConclusionsAir pollution was associated with higher levels of perceived stress in this sample of older men, particularly in colder months for specific pollutants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1476-069X-14-10) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar findings from observational studies are also shown for indoor air pollutants resulting from secondhand smoke [ 9 , 10 ] and biomass fuel [ 11 ]. Associations between air pollution and mood [ 12 ] and depressive [ 13 ] symptoms, and psychiatric emergencies [ 14 ] have also been shown in early observational studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between air pollution and perceived stress: the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study

et al. 2015

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“…Thus perceptions that seem "ignorant" or "irrational" are very likely related to issues of place, identity, power, and control. Jacobs et al (1984) observed that in addition to actual physical levels, perceived smog was related to prior undesirable life events and psychological symptoms and stress. The more stressed people are, the more likely they are to be irritated by pollution.…”

Section: "State": Perceptions About the Level Of Air Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Perceptions of Urban Air Pollution Risks

Saksena

2011

Risk Hazard & Crisis Pub Pol

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Understanding public perception and attitudes toward air quality and regulation is critical for successful citizen involvement as shifts toward new technologies and management alternatives take place. While urban air pollution continues to be a major risk in most parts of the world, very few studies and surveys have been conducted to systematically study public perceptions related to air pollution. Even fewer studies have focused on developing countries. This gap is critical because of the complex interaction between poverty, livelihoods and sustainable development in developing countries. A Pressure-State-Response framework is used to review studies of public perceptions of air pollution and knowledge gaps are identified. The paper highlights unique characteristics of urban areas in developing countries in the context of air pollution related perceptions.

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“…Recently, concern has been raised over the effect of air pollution on the central nervous system. 3 Two early studies linked ambient photochemical oxidants to anxiety symptoms 4 and depression 5 in humans in California. Monthly or weekly levels of air pollution were observed to be associated with anxiety symptoms in the Nurses' Health Study, 6 and with perceived stress in the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study in the USA, 7 and a number of studies have observed associations between daily fluctuations in air pollution and mental health outcomes such as depressive symptoms, suicide and emergency calls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between neighbourhood air pollution concentrations and dispensed medication for psychiatric disorders in a large longitudinal cohort of Swedish children and adolescents

et al. 2016

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ObjectiveTo investigate associations between exposure to air pollution and child and adolescent mental health.DesignObservational study.SettingSwedish National Register data on dispensed medications for a broad range of psychiatric disorders, including sedative medications, sleeping pills and antipsychotic medications, together with socioeconomic and demographic data and a national land use regression model for air pollution concentrations for NO2, PM10 and PM2.5.ParticipantsThe entire population under 18 years of age in 4 major counties. We excluded cohort members whose parents had dispensed a medication in the same medication group since the start date of the register. The cohort size was 552 221.Main outcome measuresCox proportional hazards models to estimate HRs and their 95% CIs for the outcomes, adjusted for individual-level and group-level characteristics.ResultsThe average length of follow-up was 3.5 years, with an average number of events per 1000 cohort members of ∼21. The mean annual level of NO2 was 9.8 µg/m3. Children and adolescents living in areas with higher air pollution concentrations were more likely to have a dispensed medication for a psychiatric disorder during follow-up (HR=1.09, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.12, associated with a 10 µg/m3 increase in NO2). The association with NO2 was clearly present in 3 out of 4 counties in the study area; however, no statistically significant heterogeneity was detected.ConclusionThere may be a link between exposure to air pollution and dispensed medications for certain psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents even at the relatively low levels of air pollution in the study regions. The findings should be corroborated by others.

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Air pollution and depressive symptomatology: Exploratory analyses of intervening psychosocial factors

Cited by 43 publications

References 23 publications

Associations between air pollution and perceived stress: the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study

Associations between air pollution and perceived stress: the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study

Public Perceptions of Urban Air Pollution Risks

Association between neighbourhood air pollution concentrations and dispensed medication for psychiatric disorders in a large longitudinal cohort of Swedish children and adolescents

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