Abstract
This study investigates what happens to people’s mental health when they get paid work after being unemployed and having common mental health problems. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study followed participants for two years and measured self-reported health, self-esteem, mastery, and happiness. About 1208 participants were selected to participate in the study (Schuring et al., 2017).
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Results showed that entering paid employment positively impacted mental health for intermediate and highly-educated persons. However, people who are uneducated have experienced minimal effects, which demonstrates that work should be a big part of programs to help unemployed people with mental health problems get healthier (Schuring et al., 2017). Therefore, employment should be included in the initiatives focused on enhancing the health of unemployed individuals who suffer from mental illness.
Article Summary
This article looked at how having a paid job can help people with common mental health problems. Firstly, the authors examined how people choose paid jobs and the rationale for making those decisions (Schuring et al., 2017). They discussed the evidence that suggests that persons with mental health problems who find paid employment tend to be less symptomatic than those who are unemployed.
Secondly, the authors explored the potential causation mechanism, which suggests that paid employment may have a protective effect on mental health (Schuring et al., 2017). Finally, they concluded that paid employment may benefit individuals with common mental health problems and suggest further research to explore the selection and causation mechanisms in more detail.
Participants
The participants in the study were selected from a larger population of working-age adults with common mental health problems in the Netherlands. According to (Schuring et al., 2017), about 749 of the 1208 people chosen to take part in the study filled out the baseline questionnaire. This gave researchers important information about how paid work affects common mental health problems (Schuring et al., 2017).
The selection criteria included being employed, having a common mental health problem, and being between 18 and 65 (Schuring et al., 2017). The participants were surveyed at baseline and follow-up points to determine the impact of paid work on their mental health. The subjects were long-term unemployed and were receiving social security benefits from the cities they were partaking in.
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Measures (Variables)
The study evaluated the advantages of paid employment among individuals with common mental health issues using a variety of metrics. Psychological measures such as self-esteem, mastery, and happiness were used to measure the psychological well-being of the participants (Schuring et al., 2017). Physical health was measured by self-report questionnaires and validated scales measuring physical symptoms.
Mental health was measured by a validated questionnaire assessing the severity of common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Furthermore, socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and educational level were also measured. Thus, the different measures and variables helped the researchers explore the impacts of paid employment among individuals.
Procedures
The study employed a quasi-experimental design using longitudinal data from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2. The authors compared two groups, those who were employed and those who were unemployed, on mental health outcomes at two points (Schuring et al., 2017). The selection mechanism was examined by comparing the baseline characteristics of the two groups, whereas the causation mechanism was examined with a difference-in-difference analysis. The difference-in-difference a
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