The when and the how of the emergence of social inequality in mental health: exploring social causation and health selection through employment transitions

This study aims to evaluate relationships between employees' subjective and mental health and non-regular employment. I use three-wave (2012, 2015, and 2018) from the Korean Youth Panel data to access relationships between health indicators and non-regular employment. I also explore gender differences to access if relationships between health and employment are different for the two sexes. I utilized the random-effects model to estimate the association between health indicators and non-regular employment across three waves. I found that mental health indicators rather than subjective health affect one’s odds of attending a temporary job. Also, the transition or maintenance of temporary positions showed that mental health indicators were associated with the transition from regular to a temporary job but were not associated with the maintenance of temporary positions. Additional analysis showed men were more likely to attend a temporary job if they had suicidal thoughts, while women were more susceptible to daily stress, despair, and suicidal thoughts altogether. I discuss the implications of this study for research and policy on non-regular employment's influence on youth’s health.

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Exploring the impact of social inequality and poverty on the mental health and wellbeing and attainment of children and young people in Scotland

Improving Schools ◽

10.1177/1365480219835323 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 204-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Joan Gaynor Mowat

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Young People ◽

Social Inequality ◽

Social Stratification ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Children And Young People ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Impact

The poverty-related attainment gap is an internationally recognised problem. There is growing recognition that it cannot either be understood or addressed without taking cognisance of children’s mental health and wellbeing. The focus of this conceptual article is to examine the impact of social inequality and poverty on the mental health and wellbeing and attainment of children and young people in Scotland through the lens of resilience. While not a ‘state of the art’ literature review, a systematic approach was adopted in the selection of the literature and in the identification of themes to emerge from it. A range of risk and protective factors at the individual, social, societal and political levels emerged as impacting on the mental health and wellbeing and attainment of children living in poverty, and three important mediating variables are the negative impact of social stratification and adverse childhood experiences and the positive impact of a supportive adult. Schools alone cannot solve the problem. The findings revealed that there is a need to build a strong infrastructure around families and schools and to examine how economic, social, health and educational policy interact with each other as a starting point in addressing the problem, supported by inter-disciplinary research.

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Migration, culture and mental health

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700006334 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 677-684 ◽

Cited By ~ 151

Author(s):

H. B. M. Murphy

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Mental Disorder ◽

Immigrant Group ◽

Social Selection ◽

Migrant Group ◽

Social Causation ◽

General Relevance ◽

Culture And Mental Health

SynopsisThe former belief that immigrants always suffer from an excess of mental disorder is no longer valid, and the old rivalry between social selection and social causation hypotheses has lost much of its relevance. The mental health of a migrant group is determined by factors relating to the society of origin, factors relating to the migration itself, and factors operating in the society of resettlement; and all three sets need to be considered if one seeks to reduce or merely to understand the level of mental disorder in any immigrant group. Illustrations from each set of factors are presented, with indications of whether they appear to have general relevance or be related to specific mental disorders.

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Employment Transitions and Mental Health in a Cohort of 45 Years and Older Australians

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18179030 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (17) ◽

pp. 9030

Author(s):

Vikas Arya ◽

Sandro Sperandei ◽

Matthew J. Spittal ◽

Andrew Page

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Old Age ◽

Logistic Regression Model ◽

Labour Force ◽

Employment Transitions ◽

Ordered Logistic Regression ◽

Large Prospective Cohort

Background: This study investigated the associations between employment transitions and psychological distress among a cohort of 45 years and older Australians. Methods: This study was based on the 45 and Up Study, a large prospective cohort of participants aged 45 years and older (N = 267,153), followed up over the period 2006–2015. The risk of psychological distress was compared between various employment transitions categories by specifying an ordered logistic regression model adjusting for confounders. Results: Compared to participants who remained employed at baseline and follow-up, higher psychological distress was found among those who transitioned from being employed to unemployed (OR = 2.68, 95%CI 2.13–3.33) and to not being in the labour force or retired (OR = 2.21, 95%CI 1.85–2.62). Higher psychological distress was also evident among those who remained unemployed from baseline to follow-up (OR = 2.00, 95%CI 1.10–3.43), and those who transitioned from being retired to being unemployed (OR = 1.55, 95%CI 1.03–2.27). Conversely, lower psychological distress was found among those who transitioned from being unemployed to being employed (OR = 0.35, 95%CI 0.25–0.51). In general, lower psychological distress was found among ‘positive’ employment transitions (transitioning to being employed or retired). Conclusions: Policies focussing on re-employment in older age, as well as unemployment schemes, might be helpful in reducing psychological distress among middle- and old-age Australians.

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