Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en The Impact of Socioeconomic Inequality on Mental Health among Adolescents in Qazvin, Iran: Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Method Biostatistics and Epidemiology Biostatistics and Epidemiology Original Research Original Research Background: Mental health is integral to public health in adolescents. Although previous studies have shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with mental disorders (MD), it is unclear which mental health domains are most important. Thus, our study aimed to investigate the associations between 5 domains of mental disorder and SES inequality in adolescents.    Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among adolescents (N = 1724). Associations between SES inequality with mental disorders, such as emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior, were examined. We used the concentration index (CI) to determine inequality. The gap between the low and high socioeconomic groups was decomposed into its determinants using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method.    Results: Mental health's overall CI was –0.085 (P ˂ 0.001). The emotional problem was primarily caused by SES inequality (–0.094 [P = 0.004]). Decomposition of the gap between the 2 economic groups showed that physical activity, school performance, exercise, parents' smoking status, and gender were the most important determinants of inequality.    Conclusion: SES inequality plays a vital role in adolescents' mental health. It seems that the emotional problem domain of mental health might be more amenable to interventions than other domains.   Health Status Disparities, Socioeconomic Factors, Mental Health, Adolescent, Iran 422 427 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-5992-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Elahe Jafari elhejafari@gmail.com 200319475328460077311 200319475328460077311 No Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mohammadreza Pirmoradi mrpirmoradi47@gmail.com 200319475328460077312 200319475328460077312 No Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Elham Mohebbi mohebi.el@gmail.com 200319475328460077313 200319475328460077313 No Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA Manar Ahmed Kamal manarahmedkamal37@gmail.com 200319475328460077314 200319475328460077314 No Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt Zahra Hosseinkhani z.hoseinkhani@qums.ac.ir 200319475328460077315 200319475328460077315 Yes Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, & Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran Majid Meshkini meshkini.m@iums.ac.ir 200319475328460077316 0009-0005-9478-5965 No Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran