title: The role of social support in protecting mental health when employed and unemployed: A longitudinal fixed-effects analysis using 12 annual waves of the HILDA cohort.
abstract: Perceived social support is associated with overall better mental health. There is also evidence that unemployed workers with higher social support cope better psychologically than those without such support. However, there has been limited research about the effect of social support among people who have experienced both unemployment and employment. We assessed this topic using 12 years of annually collected cohort data. The sample included 3190 people who had experienced both unemployment and employment. We used longitudinal fixed-effects modelling to investigate within-person changes in mental health comparing the role of social support when a person was unemployed to when they were employed. Compared to when a person reported low social support, a change to medium (6.35, 95% 5.66 to 7.04, p < 0.001) or high social support (11.58, 95%, 95% CI 10.81 to 12.36, p < 0.001) was associated with a large increase in mental health (measured on an 100 point scale, with higher scores representing better mental health). When a person was unemployed but had high levels of social support, their mental health was 2.89 points (95% CI 1.67 to 4.11, p < 0.001) higher than when they were employed but had lower social support. The buffering effect of social support was confirmed in stratified analysis. There was a strong direct effect of social support on mental health. The magnitude of these differences could be considered clinically meaningful. Our results also suggest that social support has a significant buffering effect on mental health when a person is unemployed.
authors: Work, Health and Wellbeing Unit, Population Health Strategic Research Centre, School of Health & Social Development, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address: allison.milner@deakin.edu.au.
authors: Allison
authors: A
authors: Milner
authors: Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Lauren
authors: L
authors: Krnjacki
authors: Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Butterworth
authors: Work, Health and Wellbeing Unit, Population Health Strategic Research Centre, School of Health & Social Development, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors: Anthony D
authors: AD
authors: LaMontagne
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012944:Social Support; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Employed; Fixed effect; Longitudinal; Mental health; Social support; Unemployed