Mental Health and ESG: An Econometric Analysis of Environmental, Social, and Governance Impacts

Background Whereas Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues and mental well-being have each been studied previously, their combined impacts have rarely been analyzed, and certainly not from a regional perspective where economic and social differences are concerned. This work fills the existing gap by examining how ESG measures drive mental health throughout all 20 regions of Italy between 2004 and 2023. Methods We have applied a panel data econometric model based on fixed and random effects to analyze how ESG considerations relate to the Mental Health Index (MHI). The model accounted for unobserved differences and permitted region-specific and time-varying fixed effects. The ISTAT-BES dataset supplied variables which have been categorized under the three pillars of ESG, namely, environmental sustainability, social equity, and governance efficiency. Results Our results show a positive and significant relationship between MHI and ESG performance. Environmental aspects like decreased landscape degradation and enhanced resilience of the soils had positive correlations with improved MHI. Individual factors like labor market conditions, family satisfaction levels, and lower burdens from housing expenses had significant correlations to enhanced MHI. Governance factors like lower length of civil proceedings and greater access to digitization had positive correlations to MHI. Job insecurity, poor literacy levels, and climate change fear had negative correlations to MHI. Conclusions The study highlights an intense and dynamic interlinkage between ESG factors and regional mental health. It emphasizes the necessity for holistic policies that synchronize ecological preservation, social coherence, and sound governance with public health policy. These are especially valid for nations experiencing comparable regional inequalities and provide a replicable template for enhancing mental welfare by policy design based upon ESG.