People who experience a significant number of moves before the age of 15 are over 40% more likely to be diagnosed with depression in later life, a new study has shown.
The research, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, analysed all residential locations of almost 1.1 million people born in Denmark between 1981 and 2001 and who stayed in the country during the first 15 years of their lives.
It then tracked those same individuals into adulthood, and found at least 35,000 of those still living within Denmark had subsequently received a medical diagnosis of depression.
As part of a detailed analysis, the study supported existing evidence by showing that individuals who live in income deprived neighbourhoods during childhood are more likely - by a factor of around 10% - to develop depression in adulthood.
However, it for the first time showed that experiences of moving during childhood - whether between or within deprived or non-deprived neighbourhoods - is also associated with significantly higher rates of depression in adulthood.
Specifically, children who move once between ages 10 to 15 are 41% more likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who don't move. And if a child moves twice or more between the ages of 10 and 15, the risk rises to around 61%. This is a stronger effect than growing up in a deprived neighbourhood.
It has led researchers behind the study to suggest a settled home environment - in terms of location - during childhood may be one way of protecting against future mental health issues.
The study was carried out by researchers from Aarhus University (Denmark), the University of Plymouth (UK) and the University of Manchester (UK).
Professor Clive Sabel, Professor of Big Data and Spatial Science at the University of Plymouth and former Director of the Big Data Centre for Environment and Health at Aarhus University, is the study's lead author.
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