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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Emily OliverORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Mental health inequalities represent one of the most pressing and persistent challenges in public health, yet the mechanisms through which environmental conditions and socioeconomic disadvantage jointly drive them remain poorly understood, particularly at the fine geographical scales needed to guide intervention. Analysing population-level data from 3.4 million residents across two geographically and socioeconomically diverse English regions, we present the first spatial epidemiological study to simultaneously examine the independent and combined effects of transportation-related air and noise pollution on depression prevalence across all domains of neighbourhood-level socioeconomic deprivation. Applying Generalised Structural Equation Spatial Modelling at Lower Super Output Area level, we first identify place-specific mediation pathways that are invisible to conventional, non-spatial approaches: in rural areas, 24-h noise exposure mediated 18.64% of the relationship between neighbourhood crime and depression, whilst in urban settings, combined environmental stressors accounted for 41.37% of the effect of income deprivation on older adults' mental health — with suppression effects revealing complex, context-dependent mechanisms that challenge simplistic linear models of environment and mental health. Depression determinants operate through interconnected, place-specific pathways rather than isolated factors, with mediation directionality varying markedly by region and urban-rural context. By conceptualising depression as emerging from dynamic human-environment interactions shaped by local geography and social disadvantage, our work advances the ecological framework of mental health and provides a critical evidence base for targeted, place-sensitive public health interventions addressing the environmental determinants of psychological wellbeing across diverse geographical contexts
Author(s): Tsimpida T, Tsakiriki A, Oliver EJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Environmental Psychology
Year: 2026
Volume: 111
Print publication date: 01/05/2026
Online publication date: 06/03/2026
Acceptance date: 05/03/2026
Date deposited: 06/08/2026
ISSN (print): 0272-4944
ISSN (electronic): 1522-9610
Publisher: Academic Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102978
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102978
Data Access Statement: This study utilised multiple open data sources to examine relationships between environmental exposures and depression.
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