Mental health is a growing concern in the construction industry, including a disproportionately high suicide rate and rising overdose fatalities.  Monitoring anxiety, depression, and psychological distress is crucial to understanding and improving mental health across the industry.

This story-dashboard, which accompanies CPWR’s January 2022 Data Bulletin, contains three sets of charts, navigated by clicking either the blue caption boxes or the arrows at the top of the dashboard. They summarize the following mental health indicators among construction workers: 1) Anxiety/Depression (for 2019-2020), 2) Anxiety/Depression (2010-2018), and 3) Psychological Distress (1999-2018). Data are from the National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Health Interview Survey. They were downloaded from IPUMS for 2010-2018 and from NCHS for 2019-2020.

Definitions, individuals included in the survey, and years vary among charts due to changes over time in survey methods and the questionnaire. Thus, the charts included in the dashboards cover different measures and time periods. Details about and instructions for each dashboard are included in the information icon located to the right of the dashboard title. To get a full view of the dashboard on a mobile device, zoom out slightly and use landscape mode, which will provide a better navigation experience.

You can download the data as a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is color-coded for each set of charts, and each worksheet’s name is based on the corresponding dashboard chart.

The dashboard will be updated when new data are available. If you have questions or comments, please email [email protected].

Recommended Citation: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training. [2022]. Construction Worker Mental Health [dashboard].