Economic grand rounds: psychological distress and depression associated with job loss and gain: the social costs of job instability.
The authors used Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data for 81,097 respondents in 2004-2007, a period of economic expansion, to examine psychological distress among depressed and nondepressed persons in four categories: employed (73%), unemployed (23%), recent job loss (4%), and recent job gain (<1%). Depressed persons who experienced job loss or unemployment were significantly more distressed than depressed persons who were employed. Among depressed persons, on all measures of distress except one (worthlessness), unadjusted distress levels for those who gained a job were higher than for those who had lost a job. Measurements of the social costs of job instability need to account for costs related to unemployment and underemployment.
School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado Denver, 12631 E. 17th Ave., Aurora, CO 80045, USA. anne.libby@ucdenver.edu
Anne M
AM
Libby
Vahram
V
Ghushchyan
Robert Brett
RB
McQueen
Jonathan D
JD
Campbell
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States