If you grew up on a busy street, you are now more likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety and psychotic behaviors, a study claims.
Researchers in the United Kingdom analyzed data from more than 9,000 children who were born in the 1990s and lived in various urban, suburban and rural areas.
The team analyzed their level of exposure to pollution and traffic noise while they were growing up, and followed up three times during adolescence and early adulthood.
They found that children who grew up surrounded by more air and noise pollution were up to 22 percent more likely to have depression, anxiety and “psychotic experiences” such as hallucinations and intrusive thoughts than those who lived in quieter, cleaner areas.
Researchers in the United Kingdom found that children who grew up surrounded by more air and noise pollution were up to 22 percent more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and “psychotic experiences.”
“Our findings suggest an important role of early (including prenatal) exposure to air pollution in the development of mental health problems in youth,” the researchers wrote. They also called pollution and noise exposure “harmful” to mental health.
They noted that noise pollution “could increase anxiety by increasing stress and disrupting sleep” and “affect cognition, which could increase anxiety by affecting concentration during the school years.”
They said air pollution has also been shown to cause inflammation in the brain and damage tissues, as well as leading to low birth weight. These factors can increase the likelihood of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Participants included 9,065 children born between 1 April 1991 and 31 December 1992 in the south of the United Kingdom.
More than 95 percent of the participants were white.
The team measured the levels of pollution and noise that participants experienced from pregnancy to age 12.
The researchers interviewed children ages 13, 18, and 24 about their psychotic experiences, which included hallucinations, delusions, and intrusive thoughts.
In total, between ages 13 and 24, 19.5 percent of participants had psychotic experiences, 11.4 percent reported depression, and 9.7 percent were anxious.
In childhood, participants exposed to high levels of air pollution were nine percent more likely to have psychotic experiences and 11 percent more likely during pregnancy. Pollution was also linked to a 10 percent increase in the risk of depression.
Additionally, those who lived in noisier areas had a 19 percent higher risk of anxiety in childhood and a 22 percent higher risk of anxiety in adolescence.
One limitation is that the data is observational, so the team cannot determine whether pollution and noise directly caused the mental health conditions.
And the data set included mostly white children from wealthy families, and the data was limited to only children from the United Kingdom.
Additionally, participants were only measured until age 24, so there is no data on whether they developed mental health problems later in life.
“There is now a pressing need to conduct more longitudinal research using more precise measures of air and noise pollution and to replicate these using quasi-experimental designs,” the researchers wrote.
The study was published in Open JAMA Network.