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Key Points: Question: Are certain neighborhood deprivation trajectories and moving during childhood associated with depression in adulthood? Findings: This cohort study found that individuals who lived in neighborhoods during childhood that were more income deprived were more likely to develop depression in adulthood. The experience of moving during childhood, whether living in a deprived or nondeprived neighborhood, was associated with significantly higher rates of depression in adulthood compared with those who did not move. Meaning: This study suggests that rather than solely high neighborhood income deprivation in childhood being associated with onset of depression during adulthood, a settled home environment in childhood may have a protective association. Importance: Complex biological, socioeconomic, and psychological variables combine to cause mental illnesses, with mounting evidence that early-life experiences are associated with adulthood mental health. Objective: To evaluate whether changing neighborhood income deprivation and residential moves during childhood are associated with the risk of receiving a diagnosis of depression in adulthood. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included the whole population of 1 096 916 people born in Denmark from January 1, 1982, to December 31, 2003, who resided in the country during their first 15 years of life. Individuals were followed up from 15 years of age until either death, emigration, depression diagnosis, or December 31, 2018. Longitudinal data on residential location was obtained by linking all individuals to the Danish longitudinal population register. Statistical analysis was performed from June 2022 to January 2024. Exposures: Exposures included a neighborhood income deprivation index at place of residence for each year from birth to 15 years of age and a mean income deprivation index for the entire childhood (aged ≤15 years). Residential moves were considered by defining "stayers" as individuals who lived in the same data zone during their entire childhood and "movers" as those who did not. Main Outcomes and Measures: Multilevel survival analysis determined associations between neighborhood-level income deprivation and depression incidence rates after adjustment for individual factors. Results were reported as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% credible intervals (95% CrIs). The hypotheses were formulated before data collection. Results: A total of 1 096 916 individuals (563 864 male participants [51.4%]) were followed up from 15 years of age. During follow-up, 35 098 individuals (23 728 female participants [67.6%]) received a diagnosis of depression. People living in deprived areas during childhood had an increased risk of depression (IRR, 1.10 [95% CrI, 1.08-1.12]). After full individual-level adjustment, the risk was attenuated (IRR, 1.02 [95% CrI, 1.01-1.04]), indicating an increase of 2% in depression incidence for each 1-SD increase in income deprivation. Moving during childhood, independent of neighborhood deprivation status, was associated with significantly higher rates of depression in adulthood compared with not moving (IRR, 1.61 [95% CrI, 1.52-1.70] for 2 or more moves after full adjustment). Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that, rather than just high or changing neighborhood income deprivation trajectories in childhood being associated with adulthood depression, a settled home environment in childhood may have a protective association against depression. Policies that enable and support settled childhoods should be promoted. This cohort study comprising more than 1 million individuals evaluates whether changing neighborhood income deprivation and residential moves during childhood are associated with the risk of depression in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We provide an overview of nationwide environmental data available for Denmark and its linkage potentials to individual-level records with the aim of promoting research on the potential impact of the local surrounding environment on human health., Background: Researchers in Denmark have unique opportunities for conducting large population-based studies treating the entire Danish population as one big, open and dynamic cohort based on nationally complete population and health registries. So far, most research in this area has utilised individual- and family-level information to study the clustering of disease in families, comorbidities, risk of, and prognosis after, disease onset, and social gradients in disease risk. Linking environmental data in time and space to individuals enables novel possibilities for studying the health effects of the social, built and physical environment., Methods: We describe the possible linkage between individuals and their local surrounding environment to establish the exposome - that is, the total environmental exposure of an individual over their life course., Conclusions: The currently available nationwide longitudinal environmental data in Denmark constitutes a valuable and globally rare asset that can help explore the impact of the exposome on human health ., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.