Skip to main content

Differential participation in community cultural activities amongst those with poormental health: Analyses of the UK Taking Part Survey.

Fancourt, D. and Baxter, L., 2020. Differential participation in community cultural activities amongst those with poormental health: Analyses of the UK Taking Part Survey. Social Science and Medicine, 261 (September), 113221.

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF (OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE)
1-s2.0-S0277953620304408-main.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

217kB

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113221

Abstract

Rationale. There is a growing literature on the benefits of arts and cultural engagement for mental health. However, whether poor mental health is a barrier to engaging in cultural activities remains unclear. Objective. To identify whether there are differential participation rates in community cultural activities amongst those with differing levels of mental health (specifically, feelings of anxiety and happiness) and identify potential explanatory factors. Method. We analysed data from 7,241 participants in the Taking Part survey, a random face-to-face household survey conducted in England (2016 to 2017). Cultural engagement was measured using a four-factor variable of cultural participation derived from assessing annual attendance at 21 receptive cultural activities. Mental health was measured using two of the Office of National Statistics measures of subjective wellbeing: happiness and anxious feelings. Analyses were adjusted for demographic, socio-economic, geographic and behavioural factors. Results. There was no difference in participation amongst individuals experiencing high levels of anxious feelings, but individuals experiencing low levels of happiness were less likely to engage in 'popular' cultural activities (e.g., live music events/cinema), 'high art' cultural activities (e.g., opera/ ballet), and crafts and literary cultural events (e.g., exhibitions/book fairs). Education and socio-economic status largely explained differences, but for 'high art' and 'popular' activities, differences persisted independent of all explanatory factors tested. There was no difference in participation in global cultural activities (e.g., festivals). Conclusions. Using behaviour change theory, our findings suggest that lower levels of physical and social opportunity and psychological capability may reduce levels of cultural participation amongst individuals with low levels of happiness, but other physical and perceived barriers still remain to be explored. Keywords: Cultural engagement; anxiety; mental health; community participation; behaviour change theory

Item Type:Article
ISSN:0277-9536
Uncontrolled Keywords:Cultural engagement; anxiety; mental health; community participation; behaviour change theory
Group:Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
ID Code:34308
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:20 Jul 2020 11:53
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:23

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...
Repository Staff Only -