Income Inequality and Depression: The Role of Social Comparisons and Coping Resources

In the present contribution, we address the idea that income inequality\ncan ‘get under the skin’ and worsen the symptoms of depression. We\ninvestigate whether this effect can be explained by country differences\nin the average coping resources citizens have at their disposal,\nas well as the average extent to which they engage in social comparisons.\nIn addition, we examine whether coping resources can protect individuals\nfrom the detrimental effect of inequality and whether the effect\nof inequality varies according to socio-economic (SES) positions.\nWe use multilevel techniques on a sample of 43,824 respondents collected\nby the European Social Survey (ESS) 2006/2007 in 23 European countries\nand find that individuals in countries with greater income inequalities\nreport more depressive symptoms. Although social comparisons are\nassociated with more depressive symptoms, they do not explain the\neffect of inequality and neither do coping resources. However, we\ndo find that coping resources can protect against the stress of living\nin a society with high income inequality. Our results provide some\nsupport for the idea that inequality is most corrosive to the mental\nhealth of the people in the middle of the income hierarchy.