The effect of urban-area unemployment on the mental health of citizens differs between Slovak and Dutch cities

Conclusive evidence on the association of mental health problems (MHP) with area unemployment is lacking in regard to Central European cities. We obtained data on residents aged 19-64 from Slovak and Dutch cities from the FP7 EURO-URHIS 2 project. Multilevel logistic regression showed that the association between MHP (GHQ-12-total score ≥2) and area unemployment was strong in the Netherlands, but absent in Slovakia. Slovak citizens from the most favourable neighbourhoods had nearly double the risk of MHP than their Dutch counterparts. Individual-level socioeconomic characteristics did not explain area differences. The effect of urban-area unemployment seems to differ between Central European and Western European countries.