研究:“大衰退”与长期心理健康问题有关

研究:经济“大衰退”与长期心理健康问题有关

Millions of Americans are still recovering from the “Great Recession” of 2008. But it’s not just their finances that took a hit.

数百万美国人仍在从2008年的“大衰退”中复苏。但受打击的不仅仅是他们的财务状况。

Those who suffered financial hardships due to the ruinous economic downturn are also more likely to be depressed, anxious and use drugs now, according to new research published in Clinical Psychological Science.

《临床心理科学》发表的一项新研究显示，那些因经济衰退而遭受经济困难的人，现在也更容易抑郁、焦虑和吸毒。

“Individuals who experienced even a single recession impact still had higher odds of nearly all of the adverse mental health outcomes we examined — including clinically significant symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, panic and problems with drug use,” said lead researcher Miriam Forbes of Macquarie University in Sydney. “And these odds were higher still in specific sociodemographic groups who suffered marked losses during the recession or without a strong safety net.”

尼麦考瑞大学的首席研究员Miriam Forbes说:“即使经历过一次经济衰退的人，几乎所有我们调查的不良心理健康结果的几率都更高，包括临床显著的抑郁症、广泛性焦虑、恐慌和药物使用问题。”“在经济衰退期间或没有强大安全网的特定社会人口群体中，这种可能性更高。”

The “Great Recession” began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. Forbes and her former colleague at the University of Minnesota, Robert F. Krueger, pulled data from the ongoing Midlife in the United States survey of adults ages 25 to 75; specifically, they looked at statistics gathered three years before the beginning and after the end of the recession.

“大衰退”始于2007年12月，止于2009年6月。福布斯和她在明尼苏达大学的前同事罗伯特克鲁格(robert f.krueger)，从美国正在进行的一项针对25岁至75岁成年人的中年调查中提取了数据;具体来说，他们研究了经济衰退开始前和结束后三年收集的数据。

Some earlier studies have actually shown a small decrease in negative mental health symptoms between the period prior to the recession and in the years after.

一些早期的研究表明，在经济衰退前和衰退后的几年中，负面的心理健康症状出现了小幅下降。

However, Forbes and Krueger found that those who experienced hardships as a result of the imploding economy — such as bankruptcy, home loss and foreclosure and job layoff — were more likely to report symptoms of depression, anxiety, panic disorder and substance abuse.

然而，《福布斯》和克鲁格发现，那些因经济崩溃而经历困境的人——如破产、丧失房屋赎回权、丧失抵押品赎回权和失业——更有可能出现抑郁、焦虑、恐慌症和药物滥用的症状。

Some people in the survey felt the impacts more than others. For example, those without a college degree were more likely to suffer anxiety, specifically about their job prospects.

参与调查的一些人比其他人更能感受到这种影响。例如，那些没有大学学位的人更容易焦虑，尤其是对他们的工作前景。

And people who were single or lived alone and experienced housing hardships more often turned to drugs, they found.

他们发现，那些单身或独自生活、经历过住房困难的人更倾向于毒品。

Interestingly, those who were at a financial advantage prior to the recession were also particularly affected. Their housing and personal finance issues drove more of them to anxiety and drug use compared with their less-advantaged counterparts — suggesting that their drastic fall from financial favor left a big psychological scar.

有趣的是，那些在经济衰退前拥有财务优势的人也受到了特别的影响。与条件较差的同龄人相比，他们的住房和个人财务问题导致更多的人陷入焦虑和吸毒——这表明他们在财务上的失宠，给他们留下了巨大的心理创伤。

“Our study provides a new perspective on the impact of the Great Recession,” Forbes said. “By looking at individuals’ mental health and experiences of the recession, we could see a different picture.”

福布斯说：“我们的研究，为大衰退的影响提供了一个新的视角。”“通过观察个人的心理健康状况和经济衰退的经历，我们可以看到一幅不同的画面。”

She also says their findings suggest that these mental health outcomes may have made their financial situations worse and that therapy could lessen the psychological “burdens” and also “stimulate faster economic recovery.”

她还说，他们的发现表明，这些心理健康结果可能使他们的财务状况变得更糟，而心理治疗可以减轻心理“负担”，并“刺激更快的经济复苏”。

Forbes concluded, ominously, that people should keep their findings in mind given that “The next period of economic contraction might begin as early as 2020.”

《福布斯》最后不祥地指出，鉴于“下一阶段的经济收缩最早可能在2020年开始”，人们应该牢记自己的发现。