ArticleBMJ open2016
The role of financial hardship, mastery and social support in the association between employment status and depression: results from an Australian longitudinal cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental health effects of unemployment and re-employment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Pooled it
- [Prevalence and socio-medical performance among unemployed people in Germany - Analysis of data of the Medical Service of the Federal Employment Agency].Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, medizinische Psychologie · 2026Article
- [Regional characteristics of diagnoses of unemployed people under socio-medical assessments by the Medical Service of the Federal Employment Agency].Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)) · 2026Article
- Traditional Gender Role Attitudes and Job-Hunting in Relation to Well-Being: A Cross-Sectional Study of Japanese Women in Emerging Adulthood.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Decomposition and comparative analysis of differences in anxiety between urban and rural Chinese adults: a national cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Problematic internet use and aggression in Chinese middle school students: mediation effect of reality social connectedness.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association Between Unemployment and Mental Disorders: A Narrative Update of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- Family structure and women's mental well-being: how family stressors explain mental health inequalities between lone and partnered mothers.Frontiers in sociology · 2024Article
- Article
- The impact of social-environmental factors on IQ in syndromic intellectual developmental disabilities.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2024Review
- Social determinants of mental health in asthma: an exploratory study.Frontiers in allergy · 2024Article
- Decreased odds of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation with higher education, depending on sex and employment status.PloS one · 2024Article
- Sense of mastery in first-episode psychosis-a one-year follow-up study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- A Qualitative Exploration of Causes of Depression among Persons Living with HIV Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy in Uganda: Implications for Policy.Psychiatry journal · 2023Article
- Gendered health consequences of unemployment in Norway 2000-2017: a register-based study of hospital admissions, health-related benefit utilisation, and mortality.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Agency and Subjective Health from Early Adulthood to Mid-Life: Evidence from the Prospective Youth Development Study.Discover social science and health · 2022Article
- The effects of a non-adaptive school-to-work transition on transition to adulthood, time perspective and internalizing and externalizing problems.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Psychometrics of the Pearlin Mastery Scale among Family Caregivers of Older Adults Who Require Assistance in Activities of Daily Living.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Mastery Is Associated With Weight Status, Food Intake, Snacking, and Eating Disorder Symptoms in the NutriNet-Santé Cohort Study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThere is robust epidemiological and clinical evidence of the harmful effects of unemployment on psychological well-being, but the mechanisms through which this occurs is still strongly debated. In addition, there is even less evidence on the impact of underemployment on mental health. Using longitudinal data collected from a cohort of 20-24 years old, the present study examines a range of employed states and investigates the role of mastery, financial hardship and social support in the relationship between labour status and depression.
methodResponses were from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project: A representative, community-based survey conducted in Canberra and Queanbeyan (NSW) in Australia, where respondents (n=2404) in their early twenties were followed for 8 years. Depression was measured using the self-report Goldberg Depression Scale, with the likely presence of depression being indicated by scores 7 or greater.
resultsThe analyses identified unemployment and underemployment as significant predictors of depression, compared to their employed counterparts. Both unemployment and underemployment remained significantly correlated with depression even after accounting for sociodemographic, economic and psychological variables. Social support, financial hardship and a sense of personal control (mastery) all emerged as important mediators between unemployment and depression.
conclusionsBoth unemployment and underemployment were associated with increased risk of depression. The strength of this relationship was attenuated but remained significant after accounting for key variables (mastery, financial hardship and social support), and extensive sociodemographic and health covariates, indicating that no or inade-quate employment contributes to poorer mental health over and above these factors.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.