Previous research has shown that English adolescents who lived in the most deprived coastal neighbourhoods have worse mental health outcomes up to 11 years later than if they had lived in equivalent inland neighbourhoods. We used twelves waves (2009-2022) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study to examine whether economic, social, educational or built environment characteristics during adolescence (age 10-15) explained this association. Initially, cross-sectional regression models were fitted between environmental characteristics and lower-super output classification (coastal or inland), with adjustment for clustering of individuals within neighbourhoods. Second, longitudinal associations were fitted between environmental characteristics and SF-12 mental functioning scores (MCS) during adulthood (age 16+) over 11 years of follow-up. Longitudinal models were fitted at the individual and study wave, with additional adjustments for longitudinal study weighting. If an environmental characteristic was associated with both coastal classification and MCS scores, they were included in the full model. For the latter, we also tested for effect modification for each coastal by environmental characteristic, through fitting an interaction term to each model. A total of 4,961 (obs=18,324) youth had complete environmental and follow-up data. Of 26 environmental characteristics examined, sixteen had average worse levels, only five better (distance food stores, hospital and green space and levels of nitrogen dioxide (No) and particulate matter 10 (PM10)), in coastal compared to inland neighbourhoods. After adjustment for age at MCS measurement, only seven environmental factors were associated with MCS scores: economic inactivity, proportion 10-19-year-olds, progression to higher education, distance to large employment/job centres, No and PM10. When these variables were added to models fitted with coastal classification, area deprivation and interaction term, mean differences in MCS scores between respondents who had lived in the top 20% deprived coastal neighbourhoods in adolescence, compared to equally deprived inland, decreased by 24%, from a mean difference of -5.1 (95% CI:-8.1,-2.2) to -3.9(-7.8,-0.02).

Co-authors

Associate Professor Stephen Jivraj, University College London