Objectives To test whether social ties play any roles in mitigating depression and anxiety, as well as in fostering mental health among young men living in a poor urban community. Setting A cohort of all young men living in an urban slum in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Participants All men aged 18-29 years (n=824) living in a low-income urban community at the time of the survey. Primary and secondary outcome measures Unspecified psychological morbidity measured using the General Health Questionnaire, 12-item (GHQ-12), where lower scores suggest better mental status. Results The GHQ scores (mean=9.2, SD=4.9) suggest a significant psychological morbidity among the respondents. However, each additional friend is associated with a 0.063 SD lower GHQ score (95% CI -0.106 to -0.021). Between centrality measuring the relative importance of the respondent within his social network is also associated with a 0.103 SD lower GHQ score (95% CI -0.155 to -0.051), as are other measures of social network ties. Among other factors, married respondents and recent migrants also report a better mental health status. Conclusions Our results underscore the importance of social connection in providing a buffer against stress and anxiety through psychosocial support from one's peers in a resource-constraint urban setting. Our findings also suggest incorporating a social network and community ties in designing mental health policies and interventions. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Mental health Social determinants Public health social network

anxiety urban population urban area depression anxiety disorder regression analysis lowest income group poverty mental health human friend community Stress, Psychological social determinants of health mental stress health status social network controlled study morbidity mental health care Cross-Sectional Studies mental disease Young Adult cross-sectional study migrant Humans Adolescent married person male Multivariate Analysis observational study population research Article major clinical study adult age sex factor Sex Factors Age Factors Social Networking General Health Questionnaire psychological well-being intimacy cohort analysis foster care Bangladesh Poverty Areas Censuses community living friendship social behavior