ArticlePublic health2021
Estimating influences of unemployment and underemployment on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: who suffers the most?
Article in Public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Associated with Professional Mental Help-Seeking Among U.S. Immigrants: A Systematic Review.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2023Pooled it
- Job Loss Due to COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study of Mental Health, Protective and Risk Factors.Psychological reports · 2026Trial
- Role Status Changes During Emerging Adulthood and Their Association with Substance Use, Mental Health, and Well-Being Outcomes over a 4-Year Period.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026Article
- Employment insecurity and binge drinking in the United States: Implications of unemployment insurance.Preventive medicine · 2026Article
- The generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) and its individual- and contextual-level correlates in Chinese adults.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- An exploratory study of anxiety symptoms and associated factors among Kenyan youth recruited from colleges and communities in urban and peri-urban areas in the Nairobi Metropolitan.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Observational
- The role of household composition in social isolation and anxiety: evidence from adults in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Exploring Correlations of Unemployment, Underemployment, and Well-Being Among Autistic Job Seekers by Race in the United States.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- The Impact of Unemployment Benefits on the Mental Health of Underemployed Workers: Findings from the Understanding America Study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Understanding the Relationships Between Fear of COVID-19, Depression, Loneliness, and Life Satisfaction in Türkiye: Testing Mediation and Moderation Effects.Nursing open · 2025Article
- Patterns of Online Stress Management Information-Seeking Behavior in Hungary.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Depressive symptomatology in Brazil: perspectives of statistical and psychometrics analyses of the PHQ-9 at four time-points (2020-2023) in the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Trends in Income and Well-Being Inequality During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.Social indicators research · 2024Article
- Efficacy of a Mobile App-Based Behavioral Intervention (DRIVEN) to Help Individuals With Unemployment-Related Emotional Distress Return to Work: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Income or Job Loss and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- A Genetically Informed Study of the Association Between Perceived Stress and Loneliness.Behavior genetics · 2024Article
- Underemployment, Work Needs, and Job Satisfaction: Does Social Support Matter?Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between unemployment and mental distress among healthcare graduates during the COVID-19 era.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination on Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression before and after COVID-19 Vaccines Were Universally Available for Adults in the United States.Depression and anxiety · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe aim of the study was to evaluate whether unemployment and underemployment are associated with mental distress and whether employment insecurity and its mental health consequences are disproportionately concentrated among specific social groups in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. STUDY
designThis is a population-based longitudinal study.
methodsData came from the Understanding America Study, a population-based panel in the United States. Between April and May 2020, 3548 adults who were not out of the labor force were surveyed. Analyses using targeted maximum likelihood estimation examined the association of employment insecurity with depression, assessed using the 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and anxiety, measured with the 2-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale. Stratified models were evaluated to examine whether employment insecurity and its mental health consequences are disproportionately concentrated among specific social groups.
resultsBeing unemployed or underemployed was associated with increased odds of having depression (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.36-2.02) and anxiety (AOR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.26, 1.79), relative to having a full-time job. Employment insecurity was disproportionately concentrated among Hispanics (54.3%), Blacks (60.6%), women (55.9%), young adults (aged 18-29 years; 57.0%), and those without a college degree (62.7%). Furthermore, Hispanic workers, subsequent to employment insecurity, experienced worse effects on depression (AOR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.28, 3.40) and anxiety (AOR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.24, 3.09). Those who completed high school or less reported worse depression subsequent to employment insecurity (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.55, 3.85).
conclusionsBoth unemployment and underemployment threaten mental health during the pandemic, and the mental health repercussions are not felt equally across the population. Employment insecurity during the pandemic should be considered an important public health concern that may exacerbate pre-existing mental health disparities during and after the pandemic.
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Registered trials
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.