Handedness and depression : evidence from a large population survey

Abstract

This paper uses a new large population survey from twelve European countries to measure the association between handedness and depression. It is found that that depressive symptoms are significantly higher amongst left-handed men. While 19% of right handed men report experiencing depressive symptoms for at least a two week period, the figure for left handed men is almost 25%. For women the corresponding percentages are 33% and 36% respectively but the difference is not statistically significant. Using the EURO-D depression scale gives equivalent results. These results are consistent with one finding from an existing small scale study.