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Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2024) | Viewed by 20760

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Alfons Hollederer

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Guest Editor

The Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Kassel, 34127 Kassel, Germany
Interests: public health; population health; health promotion; occupational health; health systems; regional health planung; social determinants of health; social vulnerability; unemployment; social work

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis, and it unleashed economic and jobs crises in many countries around the world. As a result, there is a risk of the rates of long-term unemployment increasing worldwide. This Special Issue, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, aims to analyze the relationship between mass unemployment and health, from the perspective of public health.

Firstly, this Special Issue intends to recruit articles pertaining to the differences in health status, morbidity and premature mortality between unemployed and employed people, arising from their social conditions. An additional topic of interest could concern the relationship between unemployment and suicide.

Secondly, it is well known that unemployment impairs health. However, less is known about healthy coping strategies to deal with unemployment. As a result of this gap in knowledge, in this Special Issue, we look forward to receiving intervention studies on health promotion, prevention measures, counselling, stress reduction, training or group services among unemployed people.

Thirdly, the relationship between unemployment and health behaviour could be examined.

Of particular interest are articles that focus on socially vulnerable groups, e.g., unemployed individuals with disabilities, migrants, youth, single parents or family caregivers. There will be a focus on empirical studies and theoretical articles. Moreover, international reviews and meta-analyses or policy analyses will also be considered.

Prof. Dr. Alfons Hollederer
Guest Editor

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Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic
unemployment
labor market
socioeconomic factors
health
global health
epidemiology
health inequities
mental health
disease
suicide
premature mortality
coronavirus Infections
disabled persons
social vulnerability
family caregivers
prevention
health promotion
counseling
health behavior
alcohol drinking
tabacco use
stress
health services
rehabilitation

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1482 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Working Hours, Wages, and Regular Employment Opportunity on Suicide Mortalities of Employed and Unemployed Individuals before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

by Ryusuke Matsumoto, Eishi Motomura and Motohiro Okada

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(4), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21040499 - 18 Apr 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2144

Abstract

Standardized suicide mortality rates per 100,000 population (SMRs) in Japan consistently decreased from 2009–2019, but these decreasing trends were reversed to increase in 2020. To clarify the mechanisms of recent increasing suicide in Japan, temporal fluctuations of SMRs disaggregated by sex and employment status (employed and unemployed individuals) and labor indices such as working hours, wages, and regular employment opportunity index (REO) from January 2012 to June 2023 were analyzed using interrupted time-series analysis. Additionally, temporal causalities from labor indices to SMRs were analyzed using vector autoregressive and non-linear auto-regressive distributed lag analyses. Decreasing trends among employed SMRs of both sexes were attenuated after the enactment of the “Work Style Reform Program” in 2018, but male SMRs were unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, female employed SMRs sharply increased, synchronized with the “Work Style Reform Act” and the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak (the COVID-19 impact was greater than the “Work Style Reform Act”). Additionally, unemployed SMRs of both sexes sharply increased with the revision and scale-down of countermeasures against economic deterioration caused by COVID-19 (“revision of economic supportive countermeasures against economic deterioration caused by COVID-19”). Unexpectedly, after enacting the “Work Style Reform Act”, wages decreased due to possibly decreasing working hours. Increasing REO, which consistently increased, was a protective factor for male suicides, but unemployed SMRs were not affected by any labor indices. It has been established that controlling a heavy workload plays an important role in suppressing the deterioration of physical and mental conditions, including suicide; however, this study suggested that, at least within appropriate ranges of working hours, decreasing working hours due to excessive management probably contributes to increasing suicides of some vulnerable individuals via de-creasing their wages. Although governmental welfare and economic support measures had to be revised according to rapidly changing situations during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study also suggested that temporal gaps among a part of revisions of several welfare and economic support measures were unexpectedly involved in drastically/sharply increasing suicides of unemployed individuals in 2022. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

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11 pages, 309 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Psychiatric Morbidity, Utilization and Quality of Mental Health Care in Long-Term Unemployed People

by Birgit Meiler, Andreas G. Franke, Norbert Scherbaum and Josef Rabl

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 5066; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20065066 - 13 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2024

Abstract

Research has shown complex interactions between unemployment and mental health. However, the prevalence of specific mental disorders, utilization of mental health care services and influences on help-seeking behavior have been investigated surprisingly little in the past. In this study, we investigated a sample of long-term unemployed people in a cooperation program of the local unemployment agency and a psychiatric university hospital in a larger city in Germany. Mental disorders, treatment history, accordance of treatment to national treatment guidelines and factors influencing previous treatment were assessed. Participants (n = 879; male 56%, female 44%, mean age 43.9 years) showed a high psychiatric morbidity, mostly with diagnoses from the ICD-10 categories F1 (22%), F3 (61%) and F4 (68%). Currently, 18% were in psychiatric treatment, 6% were in psychotherapeutic treatment, and 28% received psychopharmacological treatment. Mostly young men underutilized the psychiatric–psychotherapeutic system, with middle-aged men and women being most frequently in psychopharmacological treatment. Of those treated, only about 10% of the subjects currently received a treatment according to national guidelines. The utilization of psychotherapeutic treatment was strikingly poor. This study identified high psychiatric morbidity and severe treatment gaps in unemployed people. These results can help to target subjects with specific needs for interventions and to modify counseling programs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

22 pages, 947 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Values, Health and Well-Being of Young Europeans Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET)

by Marja Hult, Minna Kaarakainen and Deborah De Moortel

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 4840; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064840 - 9 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2747

Abstract

Youth unemployment is a problem that undermines young people’s health and well-being and is also a concern for their immediate communities and society. Human values predict health-related behaviour; however, this relation is very little studied and not examined earlier among NEET (not in employment, education or training) young people. This study aimed to explore the association between four higher-order human values (conservation, openness to change, self-enhancement, self-transcendence), self-rated health (SRH) and subjective well-being (SW) among NEET young men and women (n = 3842) across European regions. Pooled European Social Survey data from 2010–2018 were used. First, we run linear regression analysis stratified by European socio-cultural regions and gender. Then, multilevel analyses by gender with interactions were performed. The results show expected variation in value profiles across genders and regions and corresponding differences in SRH and SW. Significant associations between values and SRH and SW were found among both genders and across the regions; however, the results did not entirely confirm the expectations about the “healthiness” of specific values. More likely, prevailing values in societies, such as the social norm to work, might shape these associations. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors affecting NEETs’ health and well-being. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

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14 pages, 485 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Underemployment on Workers’ Health: Empirical Analysis from the China Labor Force Dynamics Survey

by Nan Li, Huanhuan Liang, Yi Gao and Dan Wu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16695; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416695 - 12 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3015

Abstract

Underemployment is a global problem. This study aimed to assess the short- and long-term effects of underemployment (hidden unemployment) on workers’ health, using data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) 2016 and 2014. Indicators reflecting workers’ self-rated health, mental health, prevalence of illness over time, and employment status were analyzed using logit regression models, propensity score matching methods, and instrumental variable methods. Empirical analyses showed that: (1) In the short-term, the impact on health is multidimensional, with underemployment significantly associated with a decline in workers’ self-rated health, an increase in the propensity for depression, and an increase in the prevalence of illness over a certain period of time. (2) In the long-term, the experience of underemployment two years in the past is associated with a current decline in workers’ mental health. That is, the negative effects of underemployment on workers’ mental health persist and do not disappear rapidly over time. The results demonstrated that underemployment is detrimental to workers’ health in the short- and long-term. In the context of epidemic prevention and control, the government and society should focus on this expanding group, establish labor protection mechanisms, and reduce the multiple effects of underemployment on workers’ health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

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15 pages, 565 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Emotional Dysregulation and Time Structure Mediate the Link between Perceived Stress and Insomnia among Unemployed Young People in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

by Zhiya Hua, Dandan Ma and Xiaoling Xia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 11883; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911883 - 20 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2602

Abstract

In recent years, the problem of youth unemployment in China has become a great concern. Unemployed young people often find themselves under tremendous stress and vulnerable to sleep problems. The link between perceived stress and insomnia has been widely documented, but the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship have not been thoroughly revealed. The objective of this study was to examine the underlying mechanisms linking perceived stress to insomnia through testing the mediating effects of emotional dysregulation and time structure. Through a multiple-stage convenience sampling, 511 unemployed young people (38.6% women; mean age = 21.51; SD = 2.22) were measured using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), 16-item Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), and Time Structure Questionnaire (TSQ). Based on the statistical description of the sample, chi-squared tests, bivariate correlation analyses, and mediation analyses were performed. The study indicated that 53.0% (95% CI: 48.7–57.4%) of the participants reported probable insomnia, and both insomnia and perceived stress demonstrated strong associations with emotional dysregulation and time structure, which served as partial mediators between perceived stress and insomnia symptoms according to mediation analyses. Path analysis further revealed that, after controlling for age and gender, emotional dysregulation and time structure accounted for 31.8 and 17.6% of the effect of perceived stress on insomnia, respectively. This study provides empirical support for the association among perceived stress, emotional dysregulation, time structure, and insomnia symptoms. To improve the sleep quality and general wellbeing of unemployed young people, emotional dysregulation and time structure must be taken into consideration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

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Review

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18 pages, 366 KiB

Open AccessReview

Association Between Unemployment and Mental Disorders: A Narrative Update of the Literature

by Andreas G. Franke, Peggy Schmidt and Stefanie Neumann

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(12), 1698; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21121698 - 19 Dec 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3082

Abstract

The relationship between unemployment and mental disorders has been a significant subject of study since at least the Industrial Revolution. However, most data show associations of unemployment and isolated mental disorders, and this study field has been neglected in the last years. Therefore, this narrative review aims to provide an updated overview of the association between unemployment and mental health in general as well as the most prevalent mental disorders. A literature search was conducted using PubMed with the initial search terms “unemployment” and “mental health”. The identified disorders were then used as search terms for a more in-depth search. Two raters screened abstracts and identified the literature containing relevant information. As a main result, it could be demonstrated that regardless of age and sex, there is still a broad association between unemployment and mental well-being in general (e.g., quality of life measure for example by the General Health Questionnaire), suicide attempts, suicide rates, as well as specific psychiatric disorders (substance use disorder, schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorders, compulsive/obsessive disorders, eating disorders, specific personality disorders, intelligence disorders/impairment, and ADHD). The most significant association was found for affective disorders (depression) and substance use disorders. The association in general was particularly evident for long-term unemployment and mental disorders. Returning to work reduced the prevalence rates of mental disorders significantly. The literature review confirms the results of much older and disease centered studies that unemployment and mental disorders are associated with each other. The main conclusion is that early medical detection and intervention among the mentally ill are as crucial as labor market policy interventions to prevent, avoid, and reduce unemployment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

Other

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19 pages, 549 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

The Effectiveness of Health-Oriented Interventions and Health Promotion for Unemployed People—A Meta-Analysis

by Karsten Ingmar Paul and Alfons Hollederer

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(11), 6028; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20116028 - 1 Jun 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3376

Abstract

Background: Unemployment is known to have negative effects on mental and physical health. Yet, the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving the health of unemployed people is unclear. Methods: We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of extant intervention studies with at least two measurement points and a control group. A literature search in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO in December 2021 identified 34 eligible primary studies with 36 independent samples. Results: For mental health, the average meta-analytic effect sizes for the comparison of the intervention group and the control group were significant and of small size after the intervention, d = 0.22; 95% CI [0.08, 0.36], as well as at follow-up, d = 0.11; 95% CI [0.07, 0.16]. Effects on self-assessed physical health status were small and marginally significant (p = 0.10) after the intervention: d = 0.09; 95% CI [−0.02, 0.20], and insignificant at follow-up. However, when job search training was not part of the intervention program (i.e., all available resources were used solely for health promotion), the average effect size for physical health was significant after the intervention, d = 0.17; 95% CI [0.07, 0.27]. Furthermore, the effects of physical activity promotion were significant and of small-to-medium size after the intervention, leading to increased levels of activity, d = 0.30; 95% CI [0.13, 0.47]. Conclusions: Population-based health promotion programs are recommended because even measures with small effect sizes can actually improve the health of a large group of unemployed people. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Risks and Health Promotion among Unemployed People)

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