Long-term effects of youth unemployment on mental health: does an economic crisis make a difference?

Abstract

BackgroundIll health is a risk factor and a consequence of unemployment, which might vary depending on the national rate of unemployment. We investigated the long-term effect of youth unemployment on mental health and explored the possible interaction during periods of high (economic crisis) and low (non-crisis) unemployment rates.MethodsA register-linked population-based cohort study was conducted including individuals aged 17–24 years. The crisis cohort (n=6410) took part in the Labour Force Survey during the economic crisis (1991–1994) in Sweden and the non-crisis cohort (n=8162) took part in the same survey before the crisis (1983–1986). Follow-up was 19 years. Adjusted HRs and 95% CIs for an inpatient care discharge mental diagnosis with employed people as the reference group were calculated by Cox regressions models.ResultsIn fully adjusted models, <3 months (HR: 1.69; 95% CI 1.14 to 2.49), 3–6 months (2.19; 1.43 to 3.37) and >6 months (2.70; 1.71 to 4.28) of unemployment were associated with increased risks of getting a mental diagnosis in the crisis cohort. In the non-crisis cohort the risks were: 1.92; 1.40 to 2.63, 2.60; 1.72 to 3.94 and 3.33; 2.00 to 5.57, respectively. No interactions between labour force status and level of unemployment were found.ConclusionsYouth unemployment is related to mental health problems, independent of the overall national rate of unemployment, which is important as the youth unemployment rates are currently at stable high level.

Long‐term effects of youth unemployment on alcohol‐related morbidity

“…alcohol or drug use disorder, affective disorder, nervous disorder or stress‐related disorder and self‐harm) later in life . The results of the additional analysis, where the outcome of mental diagnosis was divided into the four categories of discharge diagnosis, suggested a positive association between any length of youth unemployment and alcohol or drug use disorders . However, due to few observations in each group, the authors acknowledge the importance of interpreting these results with caution.…”

“…A recent Swedish study suggests that youth unemployment is associated with an increased risk of being hospitalized for a mental diagnosis (i.e. alcohol or drug use disorder, affective disorder, nervous disorder or stress‐related disorder and self‐harm) later in life . The results of the additional analysis, where the outcome of mental diagnosis was divided into the four categories of discharge diagnosis, suggested a positive association between any length of youth unemployment and alcohol or drug use disorders .…”

“…Leaving school and entering the work‐force can be considered a sensitive and difficult transition, where failure of a successful labour market establishment could have long‐term adverse health consequences . Evidence suggests that youth unemployment can independently affect an individual's mental and physical health later in life, making it a public health issue of importance .…”

Searching for a job: Cardiac responses to acute stress and the mediating role of threat appraisal in young people

“…Within the current economic panorama, youth unemployment has become an increasing problem for many European countries (Thern, de Munter, Hemmingsson, & Rasmussen, ). Indeed, leaving university to find employment is a difficult transition for young people (Bell & Blanchflower, ; Bergmark & Palme, ).…”

“…For this purpose, we compared a group of unemployed job seekers to a group of unemployed nonjob seekers, and we subjected them to a standardized social evaluative stressor. On the basis of the idea that being unemployed and looking for a job is a difficult and stressful situation for many young adults (Bell & Blanchflower, 2011;Bergmark & Palme, 2003;Knabe & Rätzel, 2011;Thern et al, 2017), and that being subjected to repeated stressful situations might lead to lower physiological responses (al'Absi et al, 1997;Hughes et al, 2011;Kelsey et al, 1999Kelsey et al, , 20002004), we expect that (H1) unemployed young adults looking for a job will show lower sympathetic (HR) and higher parasympathetic (root mean square of successive differences [rMSSD]) reactivity to a SET situation, compared to young-adult non-job seekers. Moreover, on the basis of the emotion regulation process, we expect that (H2) unemployed job seekers will show lower cognitive threat appraisal to a SET situation than non-job seekers (Mantler et al, 2005;Quigley et al, 2002;Thayer et al, 2012;Tomaka et al, 1993).…”