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Do labour market status transitions predict changes in psychological well-being?
Ellen Flint1, Mel Bartley, Nicola Shelton
1Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. ellen.flint@lshtm.ac.uk
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
|July 2, 2013
Summary
Losing a job significantly harms psychological well-being, while finding employment offers less benefit. This study establishes a causal link between employment status and mental health over 16 years.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Health Economics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The relationship between employment status and mental health is complex.
- Previous research has not definitively established causality.
- Longitudinal data is needed to understand the direction of this relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the causal direction between labor market status and psychological well-being.
- To investigate how transitions between different economic statuses impact mental health over time.
- To analyze changes in psychological well-being over a 16-year period based on employment transitions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the British Household Panel Survey (1991-2007).
- Measured psychological well-being using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).
- Employed fixed effects models to analyze the predictive power of labor market transitions on GHQ-12 scores, controlling for covariates.
Main Results:
- Job loss significantly predicted poorer psychological well-being, even after accounting for confounding factors.
- Gains in psychological well-being from entering employment were less pronounced than the negative impact of job loss.
- Transitions between secure and insecure employment did not independently predict changes in psychological well-being.
Conclusions:
- The study indicates a causal relationship between labor market status and psychological well-being.
- Job loss has a demonstrably negative impact on mental health.
- Employment status is a significant determinant of psychological well-being.
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