Moving out and moving on: the impact of mobility in a context of union dissolution on antidepressants intake in Belgium

ABSTRACT This research investigates the role of residential mobility in the relation between union dissolution and antidepressants intake. The dataset gathers information on 20 to 64-year-old individuals affiliated with the Belgian socialist health insurance fund – the largest public health insurance fund in French-speaking Belgium – and who lived in marital or non-marital opposite-sex partnerships in 2008 and separated between 2009 to 2018 (N=68,048). We used antidepressant consumption (>= 90 defined daily doses per year) as a dependent variable and conducted random-effect logistic regression models. Controlling for observed and unobserved individuals’ characteristics, we found that, mobility – defined by a change of municipality – during the year and/or the year following the separation is not associated with higher or lower antidepressants intake than staying on the previously shared place after the separation. However, we observe anticipatory effects for women: women who moved during their separation year had a higher medication use than women who stayed in the previously shared municipality. Repartnership is associated with lower antidepressants consumption for women, especially if they leave the shared place.