Text: Charlotte Tybjerg Sørensen, Communications Officer
Photo: Colourbox

PhD student Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen is the first to study a possible connection between mental health, socioeconomic status and trust among people in residential areas in a Danish context.

 The research results are part of Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen's PhD project on geographical variations in mental health. Among other things, he has investigated which contextual social factors in neighborhoods can explain socio-geographical inequality in mental health. That is, why residents in socially deprived areas generally experience poorer mental health compared to residents from more resourceful areas, even when controlling for the individual resident's own socioeconomic status.

Trust also explains socio-geographical inequality

-       The results indicate that trust between neighborhood residents in particular can have a positive impact on residents' mental health while explaining much of the socio-geographic inequality in mental health. This means that one of the explanations for better mental health in more resourceful neighbourhoods is that, on average, there is a higher level of trust between residents compared to socially deprived areas," says Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen.

Not much research has been done on mental health, socio-economic status and trust among people in residential areas in a Danish context, so Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen's research is the first to identify a possible association.

Using a combination of register data, survey data and geographical data, which the research group 'SocMap' at Aalborg University specialises in using, he can research data divided into several thousand small microareas. This is done using a new mapping algorithm developed by Associate Professor Rolf Lyneborg Lund.

-       The association cannot be seen at the parish level, which is otherwise the smallest division typically used in Denmark, but at the microdivision level, you can see the decisive factors, says Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen.

Research at the geographic micro level provides insight

-       The results are interesting because mental health is important for people and our society, and unfortunately we have seen a significant increase in the proportion of Danes with poor mental health in recent years. Most often, the focus is on mental health at the individual level – i.e. the individual's own characteristics and mental resources. However, we often overlook the geographical and contextual aspects, and here research at microarea level can be useful, says Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen.                   

Given the results, it is tempting to conclude that if you move people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to resourceful neighbourhoods with high trust between neighbours, you will improve their mental health. But according to Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen, it's not quite that easy.

-       In theory, it would be a good idea to mix people from different residential areas to dissolve the concentration of vulnerability in certain areas. However, international experience from such strategies suggests that the reality is somewhat more complicated and complex. But it is important to have knowledge, for example in relation to future urban and settlement plans, that there is this association, says Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen.

Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen has recently published an article with the results in the scientific journal 'Heath & Place' about the connection between neighbourhoods, trust and mental health. The article was written together with his supervisors, Professor Anja Jørgensen and Associate Professor Lene Tølbøll, the research group SocMap (demography, social geography and health) and health analyst Sisse Buch Johnsen from the North Denmark Region.

Sustainable Development Goals

3: Good health and well-being

10: Reduces inequalities

11: Sustainable cities and communities

Want to read more?

• Andreas Lindegaard Jakobsen’s research profile
• The research group Sociological Mapping (SocMap)