Does mental health influence commuters’ mode choice? A cross-sectional assessment from the Netherlands

People's mental health may play a role in influencing their travel behaviors; however, few studies have quantified the association between mental health and commuting mode choice. This study examined 1) how mental health is associated with commute mode choice and 2) whether gender differences exist. We used cross-sectional data from a population-representative sample of 7,280 adults aged 18–65 from the Netherlands. We applied multilevel multinomial logit regression models to investigate the associations between commuting mode choice and self-perceived mental health controlled for multiple person-level and built environmental characteristics. We also assessed possible effect modification by gender. Our covariate-adjusted regression results based on the entire sample showed no compelling evidence for an association between self-perceived mental health and commute mode choice. While we found null associations between mental health and commute mode choice for women, stratified analyses showed that men with relatively poorer mental health were likelier to commute via bus/tram. Our cross-sectional findings weakly support the notion that men's mental health may be related to commute mode choice and no such relationship was found for women. However, we advocate more research before ruling out the possibility of complex interactions between mental health and commuting behavior. • Weak evidence that mental health was associated with commute mode choice. • Men with poorer mental health were likelier to commute via bus/tram. • No association between mental health and women's commute mode choice.