Is participation in labour market programmes related to mental health? Results from a 14-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort.
OBJECTIVE
There is a lack of empirical studies assessing the possible impact of active labour market programmes (ALMP) on health. The aim of this study was to analyze whether participation in ALMP, in contrast to being unemployed and not participating in ALMP (UNALMP), was related to mental health at different ages.


METHODS
The study was carried out in a medium-sized industrial town in the north of Sweden. The cohort, consisting of all 1,083 pupils who attended or should have attended the last year of compulsory school in 1981, was followed up at the ages of 16, 18, 21 and 30. Data on 381 individuals at age 21, and 281 at age 30 were used in the study. The main health measurement was psychological symptoms among participants of ALMP in contrast to UNALMP at ages 21 and 30, and was analyzed by propensity score matching method (PSM) and multivariate logistic regression.


RESULTS
Generally, ALMP had higher scores of psychological symptoms than UNALMP. Nevertheless, participation in ALMP was not related to mental health. Due to methodological shortages our results have to be interpreted with caution. Adjustment for either all background selection variables or the propensity score in multivariate logistic regression showed similar associations, suggesting that propensity score could be used to adjust for background selection variables.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for more well-designed studies, using a theoretical framework, within the field, that are based on larger samples.
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Family Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. ievareine@hotmail.com
Ieva
I
Reine
Mehmed
M
Novo
Anne
A
Hammarström
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D058992:Social Participation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology*; D014937:Work / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult