The complex interplay between socioeconomic position, substance use and psychological distress in Belgium. The case of emerging adulthood.

Emerging adulthood is an especially vulnerable period in terms of health risks. Amongst other diseases, psychiatric disorders are common. Research has shown that mental health problems are related to other health and developmental concerns in young adulthood and in later life, such as school dropout, job insecurity and dependency disorders. Furthermore, many studies found a link between mental health problems and substance use. In this study, we wish to focus on the complex interplay of mental health and substance use with socioeconomic position among young adults in the metropolitan context of the Brussels-Capital Region. Although an inverse relation between socioeconomic position and health has been established for many health indicators and in most age groups, the direction of the relation between socioeconomic position and mental health in emerging adulthood is not clear-cut.