the impact of socioeconomic factors on subjective mental health: Evidence from the Turkey health survey

Health does not only refer to the absence of illness and disability in an individual's body but also encompasses a state of complete well-being in physical, mental, and social aspects. According to the World Health Organization, it is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." The health status, both physical and mental, is a crucial component of an individual's development. It enables individuals, families, and communities to control their incomes, education, and lives. Health plays a significant role in influencing the processes of obtaining good education and income. Many studies in the literature have focused on the effects of physical health on human capital accumulation, particularly on workforce productivity, while research on the potential impacts of mental health is relatively limited. In this thesis, the focus is on the effects of education and income levels on mental health. Parameters that could lead to deteriorations in individuals' mental health are examined through four different models. The study utilizes the Micro Data set of the Health Survey, which is periodically published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022). The first model investigates the impact of education and income levels on individuals' subjective depression perception. Two sub-models constitute the first model, using depression (Model 1(a)) and the Mental Health Screening Index developed by the author (Model 1(b)) as dependent variables. In both sub-models, education and income levels are independent variables. Results of Model 1(a) and Model 1(b) indicate that, despite differences between periods, increases in income and education levels have a reducing effect on depression and mental health screening index. The second model focuses on the impact of individuals' sociodemographic characteristics on depression. The effect of variables such as age, gender, height, weight, marital status, employment status, and taking a break from work on depression is examined. Taking a break from work due to illness was found to have the highest impact on depression compared to other demographic variables. The third model examines the effects of individuals' general health status, having chronic diseases, and other disease-like conditions on depression and the mental health screening index. The results of the third model, divided into two sub-models, show that general health status and the chronic disease index, along with physical pain, sleep difficulties, and loss of appetite variables, have a negative impact on depression and mental health index. In Model 3(b), it is observed that the difficulty index has a high explanatory power for individuals' mental health screening level. The fourth and final model examines the effects of changes in general health status, income level, and education level on depression and the mental health screening index. It is determined that a deterioration in general health status has a negative effect on depression and the mental health screening index. While improvements in income levels have an insignificant effect on the depression variable, they have significant effects on the mental health screening index. In Model 4(b), where the mental health screening index is the dependent variable, an increase in education level has a positive effect on mental health. In contrast, in Model 4(a), where depression is the dependent variable, an increase in education level is found to have an increasing effect on the likelihood of depression.