scholarly journals Invited Commentary: Linking Job Security and Mental Health—Challenges and Future Directions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Burgard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Modifying Factors ◽  
Period Effects ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Time Invariant ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Perceived Job Insecurity

Abstract Research in the social and health sciences has linked job insecurity to poorer mental health but relies on observational data and faces challenges of causal inference. LaMontagne et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2020;000(00):000–000) innovate by using both within-person fixed-effects and random-effects regression to analyze data from 14 annual waves of an Australian survey spanning 2002–2015. Using this more rigorous design, they find that improvements in perceived job insecurity were associated with improvements in Mental Health Inventory–5 scores in a large, nationally representative panel study. By using each respondent as their own control, fixed-effects models remove the influence of time-invariant confounders. Innovative new approaches are still needed to address the causal directionality of the association and to capture both those whose exposure changes as well as those for whom it persists. Future work should also consider potential modifying factors including societal conditions, macroeconomic and other period effects, and characteristics of individuals, as well as drawing on multidisciplinary approaches that consider jobs as a combination of multiple health-relevant exposures and embed individual workers in families and communities to assess the full reach and consequences of perceived job insecurity.

scholarly journals Job Attributes and Mental Health: A Comparative Study of Sex Work and Hairstyling

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Bill McCarthy ◽  
Mikael Jansson ◽  
Cecilia Benoit
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Job Attributes ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Time Invariant

A growing literature advocates for using a labor perspective to study sex work. According to this approach, sex work involves many of the costs, benefits, and possibilities for exploitation that are common to many jobs. We add to the field with an examination of job attributes and mental health. Our analysis is comparative and uses data from a panel study of people in sex work and hairstyling. We examined job attributes that may differ across these occupations, such as stigma and customer hostility, as well as those that may be more comparable, such as job insecurity, income, and self-employment. Our analysis used mixed-effects regression and included an array of time-varying and time-invariant variables. Our results showed negative associations between mental health and job insecurity and stigma, for both hairstyling and sex work. We also found two occupation-specific relationships: for sex work, limited discretion to make decisions while at work was negatively related to mental health, whereas for hairstyling, mental health was positively associated with self-employment. Our results highlight the usefulness of an inter-occupational labor perspective for understanding the mental health consequences of being in sex work compared to hairstyling.

scholarly journals O3E.3 Changes in job security and mental health: an analysis of 14 annual waves of an australian working population panel survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A30.2-A30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony LaMontagne ◽  
Lan Say Too ◽  
Laura Punnett ◽  
Allison Milner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Dose Response ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Job Security ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Working Population

BackgroundThere is increasing recognition of job insecurity as an emerging issue in public health. We sought to examine whether job security improvements were associated with improvements in mental health in a large, working population-representative repeated-measures panel study.MethodsWe used both within-person fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) regression to analyse data from 14 annual waves of a national Australian survey (19 169 persons, 1 06 942 observations). Mental Health Inventory-5 scores (outcome) were modeled in relation to self-reported job security (categorical, quintiles), adjusting for age, year, education, and job change in the past year.ResultsBoth FE and RE models showed stepwise improvements in MHI-5 scores with improving job security, with stronger exposure-outcome relationships in the RE models, and for men compared to women. All models showed roughly monotonic improvements in MHI-5 score by quintile of improvement in job security. The strongest relationship was observed in the RE model for males: for a one-quintile improvement in job security, beta=2.06 [1.67, 2.46], and the following for two- (3.94 [3.54, 4.34]), three- (5.82 [5.40, 6.24]), and four- (7.18 [6.71, 7.64]) quintile improvements. The FE model for males produced slightly smaller coefficients, reaching a maximum of 5.55 [5.06, 6.05] for a four-quintile improvement.ConclusionsThis Australian national panel study showed a strong dose-response relationship between job security and depression and anxiety symptoms. Stronger causal inference over previous observational research is supported by the dose-response finding and the relative consistency of the FE and RE results. Policy and practice intervention to improve job security could benefit population health.

Changes in Job Security and Mental Health: An Analysis of 14 Annual Waves of an Australian Working-Population Panel Survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Daniel LaMontagne ◽  
Lay San Too ◽  
Laura Punnett ◽  
Allison Joy Milner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Job Security ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Population Mental Health ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract We examined whether job security improvements were associated with improvements in mental health in a large, nationally representative panel study in Australia. We used both within-person fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) regression to analyze data from 14 annual waves covering the calendar period of 2002–2015 (19,169 persons; 106,942 observations). Mental Health Inventory–5 scores were modeled in relation to self-reported job security (categorical, quintiles), adjusting for age, year, education, and job change in the past year. Both FE and RE models showed stepwise improvements in Mental Health Inventory–5 scores with improving job security, with stronger exposure-outcome relationships in the RE models and for men compared with women. The RE coefficients for improvements in job security in men were 2.06 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.67, 2.46) for 1 quintile, steadily increasing for 2- (3.94 (95% CI: 3.54, 4.34)), 3- (5.82 (95% CI: 5.40, 6.24)), and 4-quintile (7.18 (95% CI: 6.71, 7.64)) improvements. The FE model for men produced slightly smaller coefficients, reaching a maximum of 5.55 (95% CI: 5.06, 6.05). This analysis, with improved causal inference over previous observational research, showed that improving job security is strongly associated with decreasing depression and anxiety symptoms. Policy and practice intervention to improve job security could benefit population mental health.

scholarly journals 1150Changes in job security and mental health over 14 waves of a working population survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony D. LaMontagne ◽  
Laura Punnett ◽  
Lay San Too
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Job Security ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Fe Model ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Population Mental Health ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Background & Methods We examined whether job security improvements were associated with improvements in mental health in a large Australian nationally representative panel study. We used both within-person fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) regression to analyse data from 14 annual waves covering calendar years 2002—2015 (19,169 persons, 106,942 observations). Mental Health Inventory-5 scores were modeled in relation to self-reported job security (categorical, quintiles), adjusting for age, year, education, and job change in the past year. Results Both FE and RE models showed stepwise improvements in MHI-5 scores with improving job security, with stronger exposure-outcome relationships in the RE models and for men compared to women. The RE coefficients for improvements in job security in males were 2.06 [1.67, 2.46] for one quintile, steadily increasing for two- (3.94 [3.54, 4.34]), three- (5.82 [5.40, 6.24]), and four- (7.18 [6.71, 7.64]) quintile improvements. The FE model for males produced slightly smaller coefficients, reaching a maximum of 5.55 [5.06, 6.05]. Supplementary analyses investigated whether six waves of cumulative exposure to job security (higher value = higher security) predicted MHI-5 score (improvement in mental health) in the seventh wave: results showed a strong dose-response (beta cumulative security was 0.60 [0.53-0.68]), with the difference between lowest and highest values of exposure corresponding to a 14-point increase in MHI-5 score. Conclusions These analyses, with improved causal inference over previous observational research, showed that improving job security is strongly associated with decreasing depression and anxiety symptoms. Key messages Policy and practice intervention to improve job security could benefit population mental health.

scholarly journals Mental health in higher education students and non-students: evidence from a nationally representative panel study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangeline Tabor ◽  
Praveetha Patalay ◽  
David Bann
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Lower Odds ◽  
Score Difference ◽  
Mental Health Support ◽  
Health Support ◽  
Nationally Representative

AbstractDespite increasing policy focus on mental health provision for higher education students, it is unclear whether they have worse mental health outcomes than their non-student peers. In a nationally-representative UK study spanning 2010–2019 (N = 11,519), 17–24 year olds who attended higher education had lower average psychological distress (GHQ score difference =  − 0.37, 95% CI − 0.60, − 0.08) and lower odds of case-level distress than those who did not (OR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.81, 1.02). Increases in distress between 2010 and 2019 were similar in both groups. Accessible mental health support outside higher education settings is necessary to prevent further widening of socioeconomic inequalities in mental health.

Does precarious employment ruin youth health and marriage? Evidence from Egypt using longitudinal data

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-406
Author(s):  
Mesbah Fathy Sharaf ◽  
Ahmed Shoukry Rashad
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This study aims to analyze whether precarious employment is associated with youth mental health, self-rated health and happiness in marriage and whether this association differs by sex. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses longitudinal data from the Survey of Young People in Egypt conducted in 2009 and 2014 and estimates a fixed-effects model to control for time-invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity. The analysis is segregated by sex. Findings The results indicate that precarious employment is significantly associated with poor mental health and less happiness in marriage for males and is positively associated with poor self-reported health for females. The adverse impact of precarious work is likely to be mediated through poor working conditions such as low salary, maltreatment at work, job insecurity and harassment from colleagues. Social implications Governmental policies that tackle job precariousness are expected to improve population health and marital welfare. Originality/value Egypt has witnessed a significant increase in the prevalence of precarious employment, particularly among youth, in recent decades, yet the evidence on its effect on the health and well-being of youth workers is sparse. This paper adds to the extant literature by providing new evidence on the social and health repercussions of job precariousness from an understudied region.

scholarly journals Time-use and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a panel analysis of 55,204 adults followed across 11 weeks of lockdown in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Time Use ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Panel Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

There is currently major concern about the impact of the global COVID 19 outbreak on mental health. But it remains unclear how individual behaviors could exacerbate or protect against adverse changes in mental health. This study aimed to examine the associations between specific activities (or time use) and mental health and wellbeing amongst people during the COVID 19 pandemic. Data were from the UCL COVID 19 Social Study; a panel study collecting data weekly during the COVID 19 pandemic. The analytical sample consisted of 55,204 adults living in the UK who were followed up for the strict 11 week lockdown period from 21st March to 31st May 2020. Data were analyzed using fixed effects and Arellano Bond models. We found that changes in time spent on a range of activities were associated with changes in mental health and wellbeing. After controlling for bidirectionality, behaviors involving outdoor activities including gardening and exercising predicted subsequent improvements in mental health and wellbeing, while increased time spent on following news about COVID 19 predicted declines in mental health and wellbeing. These results are relevant to the formulation of guidance for people obliged to spend extended periods in isolation during health emergencies, and may help the public to maintain wellbeing during future pandemics.

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