Objectives: Variations in the association between education and depressive symptoms in 22 European countries are investigated.
Methods: Analyses are based on the European Social Survey Round 3 (N = 34,443). Education was coded according to the International Standard Classification of Education. Depressive symptoms are measured by the shortened Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D 8).
Results: The results of multiple logistic regressions show that people with low education have elevated risks of experiencing a high score of depressive symptoms. Relatively large inequalities were observed among both sexes for Hungary and Slovenia, small and non-significant inequalities for Austria, Denmark, and Estonia.
Conclusion: The results indicate that educational inequalities in depressive symptoms are a generalized although not invariant phenomenon.