Does Participation in Social Protest Lead to Depression?

Although major social protests seem increasingly common, their psychological sequelae remain unclear. In a secondary analysis from a prospective epidemiological study of family health, investigators studied 1170 participants in the Occupy/Umbrella protest movement (OCUM) in Hong Kong to ascertain the long-term psychological consequences of participation. The analysis oversampled young adults (age range, 18–35), who completed baseline assessments including Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) within 2 years before OCUM took place; follow-up assessment was conducted in 4 more waves during and up to 14 months after the 79-day protest. Extent of protest participation was gauged with various indicators (e.g., sitting down, staying overnight).

A…