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Local Landscapes, Evolving Minds: Mechanisms of Neighbourhood Influence on Dual-State Mental Health Trajectories in Adolescence

Christopher Knowles, Emma Thornton, Kathryn Mills-Webb, Kimberly Petersen, Jose Marquez, Sanja Stojiljković and Neil Humphrey

Abstract

Neighbourhood variation in socioeconomic deprivation is recognised as a small but meaningful determinant of adolescent mental health, yet the mechanisms through which the effects operate remain poorly understood. This study used #BeeWell survey data collected from adolescents in Greater Manchester (England) in 2021–2023 (life satisfaction: N = 27,009; emotional difficulties: N = 26,461). Through Latent Growth Mixture Modelling, we identified four non-linear trajectories of life satisfaction (Consistently High (71.0%), Improving (8.7%), Deteriorating (6.3%), and Consistently Low (13.9%); entropy = 0.66) and three non-linear trajectories of emotional difficulties (Low/Lessening (53.7%), Sub-Clinical (38.3%), and Elevated/Worsening (8.0%); entropy = 0.61). Using a multi-level mediation framework we assessed (1) whether neighbourhood deprivation predicted trajectory class membership and (2) the extent to which effects of deprivation operate through aspects of Community Wellbeing, as measured by the Co-op Community Wellbeing Index (CWI). Greater deprivation increased the odds of following Deteriorating (OR = 1.081, [1.023, 1.12]) and Consistently Low (OR = 1.084, [1.051, 1.119]) life satisfaction trajectories and reduced the odds of following a Sub-Clinical emotional difficulties trajectory (OR = 0.975, [0.954, 0.996]). Mediation analyses revealed that the effects of deprivation on Consistently Low life satisfaction partially operate through Equality (ab = 0.016, [0.002, 0.029]) and Housing, Space, and Environment (ab = −0.026, [−0.046, −0.006]). Further indirect effects were observed for Housing, Space, and Environment, which reduced likelihood of Sub-Clinical emotional difficulties for those living in deprived neighbourhoods (ab = −0.026, [−0.045, −0.008]). The findings highlight the distinct effects of neighbourhood deprivation on affective and evaluative domains of adolescent mental health and the protective effect of housing and related environmental factors in disadvantaged contexts, advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning neighbourhood effects on dual-state adolescent mental health.

Ethnic inequalities in adolescent mental wellbeing: An interaction analysis of social identity markers, risk and protective factors

Jessica Stepanous, Patricia Irizar, Kathryn Mills-Webb, Dharmi Kapadia, Qiqi Cheng, Jose Marquez and Neil Humphrey

Highlights

Minoritised ethnic young people show better mental wellbeing than White British peers.
Discrimination and bullying harm wellbeing more for certain ethnicities.
Own-ethnic density and parent support are more protective for some ethnic groups.
Traditional gender gap and effects of peer support are uniform across ethnicities.

The perfect night out: how to ditch the telly – and have next-level fun

The Guardian

According to Dr Michael Plant, a research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, “One of the most interesting lessons from happiness research is that we’re often wrong about what will make us happy, so we go after the wrong things – it’s called ‘miswanting’.” It’s why, he says, we’ve all had the experience of trying something new and being pleasantly surprised.

The top global health stories from 2025

World Economic Forum

Investing in employee wellbeing could boost the global economy by $11.7 trillion, according to the Forum’s Thriving Workplaces report.

The COVID-19 pandemic put the spotlight on mental health and wellbeing at work, but one expert says “the pendulum is swinging back” now.

Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at Oxford University, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, spoke with Radio Davos to explain why workplace wellbeing matters.

Implications of climate change on wellbeing

Prof Paul Behrens (Oxford), Reapra Senior Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Centre, shared findings on the implications of climate change on wellbeing at the latest of the Wellbeing Research Centre’s Seminar Series.

His research includes an overview of major integrated environment–society–economy (ESE) models, and how they all fail to account for human wellbeing.

Watch the full presentation on the Centre’s YouTube channel.

Unemployment and Climate Worries

Sachintha Fernando (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) presented findings on climate worries at the latest of the Wellbeing Research Centre’s Seminar Series.

Her research compares levels of worry about unemployment and climate change, and the capacity for people to care about more than one issue from their ‘finite pool of worry’.

Watch the full presentation on the Centre’s YouTube channel.

How to Do the Most Good

Making Sense with Sam Harris

Sam Harris speaks with Michael Plant about the philosophy of happiness and effective altruism. They discuss the nature of well-being, Nozick’s “Experience Machine” thought experiment, the validity of self-reported happiness data, the conflict between the experiencing self and the remembering self, Derek Parfit’s “Repugnant Conclusion,” the disconnect between moral intentions and consequences, why treating depression is more impactful than cash, the massive disparities in charitable impact, the potential effects of AI on human flourishing, the meaning crisis in a post-work future, and other topics.

Climate action saves lives. So why do climate models ignore wellbeing?

The Conversation

Climate change is already shaping our wellbeing. It affects mental health, spreads infectious diseases, disrupts work, damages food supplies and forces families to leave their homes because of conflict, hunger or flooding.

Wellbeing refers to everything that enables people to live healthy, safe and meaningful lives. It includes physical and mental health, access to food, clean water, hygiene and income, as well as work, leisure, culture and education.

It also involves personal safety, freedoms, trust in institutions and how people feel about their own lives. Environmental quality, biodiversity and the degree of inequality in society are part of wellbeing too. Climate change touches every one of these areas.

Adolescent Wellbeing: The Role of Schools

Devi Khanna, Jose Marquez and Alexandra Turner

Abstract

Adolescence, spanning ages 10–24, is a period of significant transition marked by changes such as puberty, brain development, and shifts in social norms and relationships. As a malleable developmental context, adolescence presents an opportunity for early intervention for improving wellbeing over the life course. Taking a socioecological approach, this chapter outlines the integral role that schools can play in improving adolescent wellbeing as part of adolescents’ environment. This chapter draws on empirical literature as well as case studies of existing health and education policies around the world. In doing so, it considers the role and responsibility of schools for improving wellbeing outcomes; how different aspects of school impact wellbeing differently; and provide policy-based recommendations for how schools can most effectively promote adolescent wellbeing.

Equality of opportunity and mortality around the world: implications for global public health

Alexi Gugushvili, Elias Nosrati and Caspar Kaiser

Abstract

Background Educational mobility is considered a key driver of population health. While prior studies suggest that intergenerational equality of opportunity may be linked to mortality, most evidence comes from high-income countries. Little is known about whether these associations apply globally.

Objective This study assesses the relationship between intergenerational educational mobility and all-cause mortality across a global sample of countries.

Methods We combine country-level data from the WHO Mortality Database and the World Bank’s Global Database on Intergenerational Mobility, covering five birth cohorts across 148 countries. Using multilevel random effects models, we estimate associations between four dimensions of educational mobility (upward, downward, stagnant, and correlation-based) and age- and sex-adjusted all-cause mortality, controlling for national indicators of education, income, inequality, health spending, unemployment, and political freedoms.

Results Higher upward educational mobility and lower stagnant mobility are significantly associated with reduced all-cause mortality. In fully adjusted models, a one standard deviation greater measure of upward mobility is associated with a reduction of 29.1 deaths per 100,000 population, while a one standard deviation lower stagnation measure is associated with a reduction of 27.3 deaths per 100,000 population. These patterns are consistent across high- and low-income countries.

Conclusions Our findings suggest that promoting educational equality of opportunity may reduce mortality and improve public health worldwide. Strengthening social mobility, especially in settings with persistent educational inequality, can be an effective policy lever for reducing health disparities and supporting healthier populations.