Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1534994

Mental health amidst multiple crises: Trends and sociodemographic risk factors in Austria's general population

Provisionally accepted
Elke Humer Elke Humer 1*Christoph Pieh Christoph Pieh 1Thomas Probst Thomas Probst 2Carina Dinhof Carina Dinhof 2Yvonne Schaffler Yvonne Schaffler 1Marina Zeldovich Marina Zeldovich 3
  • 1 University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria, Austria
  • 2 University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
  • 3 Sigmund Freud University Vienna, Vienna, Vienna, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In recent years, mental health in Austria has faced substantial challenges due to a series of both global and regional crises.Objective This study aimed to assess changes in mental health indicators within the Austrian population over time from April 2022 to October 2024 and to identify sociodemographic correlates of poor mental health.Methods Two cross-sectional online surveys on representative samples of the Austrian general population were conducted at two timepoints: April 2022 (n = 1,032) and October 2024 (n = 2,025). Mental health indicators, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, alcohol misuse, and stress, were measured using validated scales. Sociodemographic data were collected to examine associations with mental health indicators. Chi-squared tests and t-tests were conducted to compare mental health indicators between 2022 and 2024, and multivariable logistic regression models were applied to examine associations with sociodemographic data.Clinically relevant symptoms of depression and high stress decreased from 2022 to 2024 (depression from 28.3% to 21.6%, stress from 56.3% to 51.0%; p < 0.01), while other symptoms remained stable. Sociodemographic analysis revealed that female gender, younger age, lower income, unemployment, migration background and lack of partnership were associated with higher odds for several mental health issues. Conclusions Findings suggest small improvements in mental health from 2022 to 2024 and identified sociodemographic risk factors linked to mental health vulnerabilities.

    Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, insomnia, Alcohol misuse, stress, pandemic aftermath, Socioeconomic Factors, inflation

    Received: 26 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Humer, Pieh, Probst, Dinhof, Schaffler and Zeldovich. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Elke Humer, University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems an der Donau, 3500, Lower Austria, Austria

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.