The relations between mental health and psychological wellbeing and living with environmental contamination: A systematic review and conceptual framework

This review explores how the experience of living with environmental contamination is related to residents’ mental health and psychological wellbeing. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed literature reporting relevant original empirical data published before 1 April 2021. The search identified 40 papers for full review. Of these, 25 articles examined how living with environmental contamination influenced pre-clinical mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia, 17 reported on emotions, such as worry and concern, and seven considered associations with clinical mental health disorders, such as major depressive disorder. Most articles (n = 38) identified some statistically significant or anecdotal evidence of an association between mental health and the experience of living with environmental contamination. Through the critical interpretive synthesis of our review, the factors associated with mental health and wellbeing outcomes in the included papers were thematically organised into five categories: intrinsic, extrinsic (sociodemographic and personal), social, environmental, and regulatory. The conceptual framework contributes to our understanding of how environmental contamination impacts mental health and wellbeing, which may assist in preventing poor mental health outcomes in contaminated neighbourhoods.