Social network factors as mediators of mental health and psychological distress

Background: Although mental health (MH) is overall strongly associated with psychological distress (PD), this association is very weak for the sample with high PD. This relationship remains understudied. Aim: This study examines the association between MH and PD and whether this association is mediated by social network (SN) factors for individuals with high PD. Method: Data were taken from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia study (N=756). MH was measured using the MH sub-scale of the general health survey (Short Form (SF)-36) and PD was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). The SN measures were derived from the self-completion questionnaire. Using bootstrap mediation analysis, we tested whether the association between MH and PD is mediated by SN factors. Result: The correlation between MH and PD was r=-.410 (p<.001). The mediational analysis results show that social isolation mediates the association between MH and PD with an indirect effect of =-0.0070 (confidence interval (CI)=-0.0133 to -0.0023). Moreover, social connections also mediated the association between MH and PD with an indirect effect of =-0.0073 (CI=-0.0141 to -0.0028). Conclusion: This study has practical implications for the design of social policies that attempt to reduce social isolation and enhance social connectedness to protect MH.