Impact of length of unemployment and age on jobless men and women: a comparative analysis

Psychological Effects Of Unemployment Across The Lifespan: A Synthesis Of Relevant Literature

Amid ongoing global economic uncertainty and long-standing efforts to tackle age discrimination and increase older workers' labor force engagement, it is pertinent to consider age differences in the individual effects of joblessness. This is paramount for informing support services, policy formulation, and research. This article is based on a literature review of international peer reviewed quantitative research that has examined the relationship between age, psychological wellbeing and unemployment. Two hundred and twenty-six studies were screened and 36 were included. No relevant qualitative studies were identified. Among the studies, there was a broad consensus that there are age differences in terms of the psychological consequences of unemployment. However, they showed mixed evidence, and critical conceptual and methodological deficiencies were identified. We conclude that the body of evidence is weak and that drawing from it for the development of practice and policy in support of jobless individuals is to be cautioned against.

The mediating role of controllability appraisals and coping strategies on adaptive functioning after job loss: a path model

Job loss is a stressful event that increases the risk of experiencing depression and anxiety, especially during the initial months of unemployment. This study examined differences in psychological symptoms and resilient functioning accounted by employment status. The results pointed out that recently unemployed compared to currently employed individuals had lower levels of perceived controllability and resilience as well as higher levels of depression and anxiety. Path analyses showed that lower controllability appraisals at wave 1 of recently unemployed compared to employed individuals, in turn, predicted a lower use of active coping and reappraisal at wave 2, with the latter further accounting for lower levels in resilience. Higher use of distraction further mediated the relation between employment status and higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. Our findings demonstrate the importance of controllability appraisals and coping strategies used to promote adaptive psychological functioning following job loss.

Do workers accumulate resources during continuous employment and lose them during unemployment, and what does that mean for their subjective well-being?

Drawing on cumulative advantage/disadvantage and conservation of resources theories, I investigated changes in economic, social, and personal resources and in subjective well-being (SWB) of workers as they stayed continuously employed or continuously unemployed. I considered age, gender, and SES as potential amplifiers of inequality in resources and SWB. Using 28 yearly waves from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP 1985–2012), I conducted multilevel analysis with observations nested within participants. A longer duration of continuous employment predicted slightly higher economic resources and thereby slightly higher SWB over time. A longer organizational tenure had mixed effects on resources and predicted slight reductions in SWB via lower mastery. A longer duration of continuous unemployment predicted marked reductions mainly in economic but also in social resources, which led to modest SWB decreases. Younger workers, women, and workers with higher SES benefited from longer continuous employment and organizational tenure more. At the between-person level, some evidence for self-selection of less resourceful individuals into long-term or repeated unemployment emerged. The highly regulated German labor market and social security system may both dampen the rewards of a strong labor force attachment and buffer against the losses of long-term unemployment.

COVID-19, Unemployment, and Behavioral Health Conditions: The Need for Supported Employment

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive unemployment, exacerbated pre-existing behavioral health (mental health and substance use) disorders for many people, and created new disorders for others. Although policy changes have increased health care and unemployment benefits, most people want jobs and self-sufficiency rather than handouts. A robust evidence base shows that supported employment can enable unemployed people with behavioral health conditions to find competitive, integrated employment and behavioral health supports. Millions of U.S. citizens may need these services as the pandemic recedes and jobs become available. Government attention to supported employment is necessary now more than ever.

Is unemployment less important than expected for suicide attempted in developing regions? Occupational profile of suicide attempts in Jujuy, north westernmost Argentina

BACKGROUND

Mental health practices consider unemployment as a suicide main risk factor, based on models built for populations of developed countries.

AIM

This study assesses the association between the occupational risk factor and suicidal behaviors, by considering sex, age and temporal distribution, in a Latin American Andean population from north westernmost Argentina.

METHODS

Data include 481 suicide attempt cases assisted by emergency service psychologists at a head hospital in the Jujuy Province, northern Argentina, during two biennials. General categories and specific types of occupational situation, sex, age and temporal distribution were analyzed.

RESULTS

83.58% of cases corresponded to the with occupation category, but without occupation characterized male cases (p-value = .01). The type no referred occupation (19.15%) mainly contributed to this association (p-value = .02). Unemployed only represented 1.6%. These features revealed independent from the biennial period of assistance (p-value = .96 (general), p-value = .86 (specific)). Associations by age ranges did not seem to be specific of suicidal attempts.

CONCLUSION

The present contribution provides an occupational characterization of suicide attempts in an Andean population from north westernmost Argentina. Unemployment is not associated with suicidal behavior in this population, suggesting that dissimilar patterns underlie suicidal behavior of populations from developed and developing regions.

Comparable Risk of Suicidal Ideation between Workers at Precarious Employment and Unemployment: Data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study, 2012-2017

Precarious employment and unemployment are important factors that impact suicidal behavior. This study investigated (1) how employment transitions among permanent employment, precarious employment, and unemployment are associated with suicidal ideation in working employees and compared (2) whether individuals transitioning among these three states were more vulnerable than those remaining. Using nationally representative longitudinal data between 2012-2017, a total of 25,862 adults aged 25 to 59 years old without a record of suicidal ideation were included at baseline. Transitions in employment status (permanent work, precarious work, or unemployment) and suicidal ideation were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression models. Compared to the "permanent to permanent" group, individuals in the "permanent to precarious" (odds ratio (OR) 1.74, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.29-2.35], "permanent to unemployment" (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.32-2.96), "precarious to precarious" (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.21-2.85), and the "precarious to unemployment" (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.05-1.95) groups had higher odds of suicidal ideation. The magnitude of such odds was generally higher than that of individuals at annual unemployment or precarious states. The results show that adults moving in and out of different employment states have higher odds of suicidal ideation than individuals at annually static precarious or unemployment status.

Predictors of Job Search Intensity among College Graduates

This study examined the connection between personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness) and two strategies for job search: networking (family, friends, etc.) and general search (want ads, employment agencies), making use of Costa and McCrae’s five-factor model of personality dimensions. The relations between the two strategies and length of unemployment, age, and gender were also investigated. The sample consisted of 126 college graduates from the center of Israel who were applying for unemployment benefits. Results indicate a positive correlation between extraversion and conscientiousness on one hand and networking on the other. A positive correlation was also found between openness and the general search strategy. Two regression analyses were performed employing the three personality traits as independent variables, with the dependent variable of networking in the first and general search in the second. Neither yielded significant multiple correlations. A negative correlation was found between length of unemployment and job search intensity for both strategies. Gender and age produced no correlations with either strategy.

Long-term unemployment and suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

There have been a number of reviews on the association+ between unemployment and suicide, but none have investigated how this relationship is influenced by duration of unemployment.

METHOD

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of those studies that assessed duration of unemployment as a risk factor for suicide. Studies considered as eligible for inclusion were population-based cohort or case-control designs; population-based ecological designs, or hospital based clinical cohort or case-control designs published in the year 1980 or later.

RESULTS

The review identified 16 eligible studies, out of a possible 10,358 articles resulting from a search of four databases: PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus and Proquest. While all 16 studies measured unemployment duration in different ways, a common finding was that longer duration of unemployment was related to greater risk of suicide and suicide attempt. A random effects meta-analysis on a subsample of six cohort studies indicated that the pooled relative risk of suicide in relation to average follow-up time after unemployment was 1.70 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.18). However, results also suggested a possible habituation effect to unemployment over time, with the greatest risk of suicide occurring within five years of unemployment compared to the employed population (RR = 2.50, 95% CI 1.83 to 3.17). Relative risk appeared to decline in studies of those unemployed between 12 and 16 years compared to those currently employed (RR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.33).

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that long-term unemployment is associated with greater incidence of suicide. Results of the meta-analysis suggest that risk is greatest in the first five years, and persists at a lower but elevated level up to 16 years after unemployment. These findings are limited by the paucity of data on this topic.

Mediated Moderation or Moderated Mediation: Relationship between Length of Unemployment, Resilience, Coping and Health

The aim of the present research was to evaluate a model of mediated moderation vs. moderated mediation that could explain the relationship between length of unemployment, dispositional resilience, coping styles and depression and social functioning of Venezuelan unemployed individuals. Self-report measures were administered to a sample of 328 unemployed residents in Caracas, Venezuela. Results indicated that emotional coping acted as a mediator in the relationship between resilience and depression. Individuals with greater resilience used more detachment coping when unemployment was longer, while individuals with poorer resilience in the same situation used less avoidance coping. Resilience acted as a protective moderating factor between longer periods of unemployment and social functioning, a process mediated by detachment coping. Overall, results supported a mediated moderation model, with resilience as the moderating factor and coping as the mediator in the relation between stress due to the length of unemployment and well-being.