IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v73y2011i11p1627-1634.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations between unemployment and major depressive disorder: Evidence from an international, prospective study (the predict cohort)

Author

Listed:
  • Jefferis, Barbara J.
  • Nazareth, Irwin
  • Marston, Louise
  • Moreno-Kustner, Berta
  • Bellón, Juan Ángel
  • Svab, Igor
  • Rotar, Danica
  • Geerlings, Mirjam I.
  • Xavier, Miguel
  • Goncalves-Pereira, Manuel
  • Vicente, Benjamin
  • Saldivia, Sandra
  • Aluoja, Anu
  • Kalda, Ruth
  • King, Michael

Abstract

Unemployment is known to be associated with poor mental health, but it is not clear how strongly unemployment leads to onset of diagnosed clinical depression (causation), or if depression raises the risks of becoming unemployed (health selection), or indeed if both pathways operate. We therefore investigate the direction of associations between clinical depression and unemployment in a cross-cultural prospective cohort study. 10,059 consecutive general practice attendees (18–75 years) were recruited from six European countries and Chile between 2003 and 2004 and followed up at six, 12 and (in a subset) 24 months. The analysis sample was restricted to 3969 men and women who were employed or unemployed and seeking employment and had data on depression measures. The outcomes were depressive episodes, assessed using the Depression Section of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and self-reported employment status. Among 3969 men and women with complete data on depression and unemployment, 10% (n = 393) had depression symptoms and a further 6% (n = 221) had major depression at 12 months. 11% (n = 423) of the sample were unemployed by 6 months. Participants who became unemployed between baseline and 6 months compared to those employed at both times had an adjusted relative risk ratio for 12-month depression of 1.58 (95% Confidence Interval 0.76, 3.27). Participants with depression at baseline and 6 months compared to neither time had an odds ratio for 6-month unemployment of 1.58 (95% Confidence Interval 0.97, 2.58). We found evidence that causation and (to a lesser extent) health selection raise the prevalence of depression in the unemployed. Unemployed adults are at particular risk for onset of major clinical depression and should be offered extra services or screened. Given the trend for adults with depression to perhaps be at greater risk of subsequent unemployment, employees with depressive symptoms should also be supported at work as a precautionary principle.

Suggested Citation

  • Jefferis, Barbara J. & Nazareth, Irwin & Marston, Louise & Moreno-Kustner, Berta & Bellón, Juan Ángel & Svab, Igor & Rotar, Danica & Geerlings, Mirjam I. & Xavier, Miguel & Goncalves-Pereira, Manuel &, 2011. "Associations between unemployment and major depressive disorder: Evidence from an international, prospective study (the predict cohort)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(11), pages 1627-1634.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:11:p:1627-1634
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.09.029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953611006010
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.09.029?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graetz, Brian, 1993. "Health consequences of employment and unemployment: Longitudinal evidence for young men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 715-724, March.
    2. Morrell, S. & Taylor, R. & Quine, S. & Kerr, C. & Western, J., 1994. "A cohort study of unemployment as a cause of psychological disturbance in Australian youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1553-1564, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bijlsma, Maarten & Tarkiainen, Lasse & Myrskylä, Mikko & Martikainen, Pekka, 2017. "Unemployment and subsequent depression: A mediation analysis using the parametric G-formula," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85335, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Byaro, Mwoya & Mafwolo, Gemma & Ngereza, Caroline, 2023. "Does unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa have asymmetric effects on health? A panel quantile approach," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    3. Daniel Sage, 2015. "Do Active Labour Market Policies Promote the Well-Being, Health and Social Capital of the Unemployed? Evidence from the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 319-337, November.
    4. Daniel Sage, 2015. "Do Active Labour Market Policies Promote the Subjective Well-Being of the Unemployed? Evidence from the UK National Well-Being Programme," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1281-1298, October.
    5. Bijlsma, Maarten J. & Tarkiainen, Lasse & Myrskylä, Mikko & Martikainen, Pekka, 2017. "Unemployment and subsequent depression: A mediation analysis using the parametric G-formula," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 142-150.
    6. Taina Leinonen & Netta Mäki & Pekka Martikainen, 2017. "Trajectories of Antidepressant Medication before and after the Onset of Unemployment by Subsequent Employment Experience," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Kamerāde, Daiga & Wang, Senhu & Burchell, Brendan & Balderson, Sarah Ursula & Coutts, Adam, 2019. "A shorter working week for everyone: How much paid work is needed for mental health and well-being?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    8. Bubonya, Melisa & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Ribar, David C., 2019. "The reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and employment status," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 96-106.
    9. Melisa Bubonya & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & David C. Ribar, 2017. "The Bilateral Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Employment Status," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2017n10, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    10. Daiga KamerÄ de & Matthew R Bennett, 2018. "Rewarding Work: Cross-National Differences in Benefits, Volunteering During Unemployment, Well-Being and Mental Health," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(1), pages 38-56, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jacques Wels, & Booth, Charlotte & Wielgoszewska, Bożena & Green, Michael J. & Di Gessa, Giorgio & Huggins, Charlotte F. & Griffith, Gareth J. & Kwong, Alex S.F. & Bowyer, Ruth C.E. & Maddock, Jane & , 2022. "Mental and social wellbeing and the UK coronavirus job retention scheme: Evidence from nine longitudinal studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    2. Walsh, Brendan & Doorley, Karina, 2022. "Occupations and health," Papers BP2023/3, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    3. Koziel, Slawomir & Lopuszanska, Monika & Szklarska, Alicja & Lipowicz, Anna, 2010. "The negative health consequences of unemployment: The case of Poland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 255-260, July.
    4. Steven Kennedy & James Ted Mcdonald, 2006. "Immigrant Mental Health and Unemployment," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(259), pages 445-459, December.
    5. Carlota de Miquel & Joan Domènech-Abella & Mireia Felez-Nobrega & Paula Cristóbal-Narváez & Philippe Mortier & Gemma Vilagut & Jordi Alonso & Beatriz Olaya & Josep Maria Haro, 2022. "The Mental Health of Employees with Job Loss and Income Loss during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Perceived Financial Stress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    7. Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, 2004. "Reported Subjective Well-Being: A Challenge for Economic Theory and Economic Policy," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 124(2), pages 191-231.
    8. Jeff Borland & Steven Kennedy, 1998. "Dimensions, Structure and History of Australian Unemployment," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Guy Debelle & Jeff Borland (ed.),Unemployment and the Australian Labour Market, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    9. Bender, Keith A. & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2009. "Controlling for endogeneity in the health-socioeconomic status relationship of the near retired," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 977-987, December.
    10. Dorrit Posel & Adeola Oyenubi & Umakrishnan Kollamparambil, 2021. "Job loss and mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown: Evidence from South Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Catherine Vacher & Nicholas Ho & Adam Skinner & Jo Robinson & Louise Freebairn & Grace Yeeun Lee & Frank Iorfino & Ante Prodan & Yun Ju C. Song & Jo-An Occhipinti & Ian B. Hickie, 2022. "Optimizing Strategies for Improving Mental Health in Victoria, Australia during the COVID-19 Era: A System Dynamics Modelling Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-14, May.
    12. Sarah Curtis & Ben Cave & Adam Coutts, 2002. "Is Urban Regeneration Good for Health? Perceptions and Theories of the Health Impacts of Urban Change," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 20(4), pages 517-534, August.
    13. Byaro, Mwoya & Mafwolo, Gemma & Ngereza, Caroline, 2023. "Does unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa have asymmetric effects on health? A panel quantile approach," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    14. Frederick J. Zimmerman & Wayne Katon, 2005. "Socioeconomic status, depression disparities, and financial strain: what lies behind the income‐depression relationship?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(12), pages 1197-1215, December.
    15. Blanchflower, David G. & Bryson, Alex, 2024. "The adult consequences of being bullied in childhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    16. Ilse Laurijssen & Bram Spruyt, 2015. "Not for People Like Us? A Six-Year Panel Study of the Mutual Relationship Between Feelings of Relative Deprivation and Occupational Status Among Young Adults in Flanders," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 617-635, November.
    17. Böhnke, Petra & Kohler, Ulrich, 2008. "Well-being and inequality," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Inequality and Social Integration SP I 2008-201, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    18. Ali Mehdi & Divya Chaudhry, 2016. "Human capital potential of India’s future workforce," Working Papers id:11079, eSocialSciences.
    19. Ying Liang & Runxia Cao, 2015. "Employment assistance policies of Chinese government play positive roles! The impact of post-earthquake employment assistance policies on the health-related quality of life of Chinese earthquake popul," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 835-857, February.
    20. Gray, Matthew & Hunter, Boyd, 2005. "Indigenous Job Search Success," MPRA Paper 1393, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:11:p:1627-1634. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.