Unemployment impairs mental health: Meta-analyses

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Abstract

The effect of unemployment on mental health was examined with meta-analytic methods across 237 cross-sectional and 87 longitudinal studies. The average overall effect size was d = 0.51 with unemployed persons showing more distress than employed persons. A significant difference was found for several indicator variables of mental health (mixed symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, subjective well-being, and self esteem). The average number of persons with psychological problems among the unemployed was 34%, compared to 16% among employed individuals. Moderator analyses demonstrated that men and people with blue-collar-jobs were more distressed by unemployment than women and people with white-collar jobs. Linear and curvilinear moderating effects of the duration of unemployment were also identified. Furthermore, the negative effect of unemployment on mental health was stronger in countries with a weak level of economic development, unequal income distributions, or weak unemployment protection systems compared to other countries. Meta-analyses of longitudinal studies and natural experiments endorsed the assumption that unemployment is not only correlated to distress but also causes it. Seemingly inconsistent longitudinal results of older meta-analyses can be explained by retest artifacts. We also identified mental-health related selection effects during job loss and job search, but they are weak. With an effect size of d = −.35 intervention programs for unemployed people were found to be moderately effective in ameliorating unemployment-related distress among continuously unemployed persons.

Introduction

Several reviews and meta-analyses have been published that summarize and integrate the results of nearly a century of research on the psychological effects of unemployment (e.g. Catalano, 1991, Foster, 1991, Frese and Mohr, 1978, Fryer and Payne, 1986, Hammarström, 1994, Hanisch, 1999, Kasl et al., 1998, McKee-Ryan and Kinicki, 2002, McKee-Ryan et al., 2005, Murphy and Athanasou, 1999, Winefield, 1995). While these studies have considerably improved our knowledge, some important questions have not been answered in a satisfactory manner up to now, for example the questions for moderators of the effects of unemployment on mental health and the question of causality. The present meta-analytic investigation will give answers to these issues.

Section snippets

Existing meta-analyses

To our knowledge, Foster (1991) was the first researcher interested in unemployment who used modern meta-analytic techniques. His interesting work is not well known, presumably because the author hid it in the appendix of his dissertation thesis. Foster integrated 22 effect sizes from 10 primary studies. He found a surprisingly small mean effect size which seems to contradict earlier narrative reviewers who concluded that being unemployed has a considerable negative effect on mental health.

Unemployment and mental health

According to Jahoda, 1981, Jahoda, 1982 renowned latent deprivation model, distress is among unemployed people the consequence of a lack of five latent functions of employment (time structure, social contact, collective purpose, status, and activity), which correspond to important psychological needs. Only employment can provide these latent functions in a sufficient amount in modern societies, while unemployment leads to a state of deprivation, resulting in distress. Based on Jahoda’s theory,

Moderator variables

Moderator tests can help to identify the most distressed groups of unemployed persons who are in need of special help. Such tests also help to identify groups of persons who do not suffer when unemployed or suffer less than others do. To study the living conditions and coping mechanisms of such resilient people might enable us to develop successful interventions against unemployment distress. The following sections will shortly review some of the potentially moderating mechanisms that have been

The problem of causality

Two meta-analyses found significant changes in mental health that accompany transitions into or out of unemployment. When people lose their jobs, a significant deterioration in mental health occurs. When unemployed persons find new jobs, the mental health improves significantly (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005, Murphy and Athanasou, 1999). These results endorse the assumption that unemployment causes distress. However, the large difference in magnitude between the effects sizes for transitions into and

Literature search

Several computerized literature-databases were used in order to find relevant primary studies (PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, ERIC, Dissertation Abstracts International, Psyndex, WISO, Diss-CD). We also checked the reference lists of existing reviews and meta-analyses (see Section 1) and of those useful primary studies that we had already identified for hints to other useful studies. As amplification to these main search strategies, we screened the library catalogues of several German

Sample description

We identified 237 cross-sectional studies containing 323 independent samples that compared unemployed and employed persons with regard to mental health. Altogether, nearly half a million participants were examined in these studies (N = 458,820). The median sample size was Mdn = 219 with a range from Min = 17 to Max = 248,393. The studies originated from 26 predominantly Western countries.

Summary of meta-analytic findings

The present meta-analytic investigation demonstrated that the negative effect of unemployment on mental health has a size of d = 0.51, meaning that the health level of unemployed persons is half a standard deviation below the health level of employed persons. This effect is a rather broad one, since it can be detected on a large range of mental health indicators (mixed symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, subjective well-being, and self-esteem). The effect has

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