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Unemployment and mental health among white-collar workers - question of work involvement and financial situation?

Rantakeisu, U and Jönsson, Leif Roland LU (2003) In International Journal of Social Welfare 12(1). p.31-41
Abstract
We examine whether it is a psychosocial or an economic need for employment that affects mental health among the unemployed. The relevance of both aspects are examined, concentrating on two measures of each dimension. Two perspectives of work involvement - the degree of connection to working life and the perceived employment commitment and two perspectives on financial situation economic security and perceived economic concern have been analysed, using empirical data collected by means of a cross-sectional survey of 1297 unemployed white-collar workers from the public sector in Sweden. The degree of connection to working life was not significantly linked to the mental health of the unemployed, although there was a strong link between the... (More)
We examine whether it is a psychosocial or an economic need for employment that affects mental health among the unemployed. The relevance of both aspects are examined, concentrating on two measures of each dimension. Two perspectives of work involvement - the degree of connection to working life and the perceived employment commitment and two perspectives on financial situation economic security and perceived economic concern have been analysed, using empirical data collected by means of a cross-sectional survey of 1297 unemployed white-collar workers from the public sector in Sweden. The degree of connection to working life was not significantly linked to the mental health of the unemployed, although there was a strong link between the perceived employment commitment and mental health among this group. The stronger the perceived employment commitment, the poorer the state of the person's mental health. Perceived economic concern was also tightly linked to mental health: the greater the economic concern, the poorer the mental health. Economic security also played - at least, partly - a moderate but significant role. The results provide strong support for the existence of both a psychosocial need and an economic need for employment. The analysis demonstrates that it is the perceived assessed measures of work involvement and financial situation that are linked to mental health. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
white-collar workers, work involvement, mental health, unemployment, financial situation
in
International Journal of Social Welfare
volume
12
issue
1
pages
31 - 41
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000181078800005
  • scopus:10744233430
ISSN
1369-6866
DOI
10.1111/1468-2397.00004
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ae43849d-2a01-4d76-adb6-8c31496a1cbd (old id 891049)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:46:51
date last changed
2022-02-18 05:13:55
@article{ae43849d-2a01-4d76-adb6-8c31496a1cbd,
  abstract     = {{We examine whether it is a psychosocial or an economic need for employment that affects mental health among the unemployed. The relevance of both aspects are examined, concentrating on two measures of each dimension. Two perspectives of work involvement - the degree of connection to working life and the perceived employment commitment and two perspectives on financial situation economic security and perceived economic concern have been analysed, using empirical data collected by means of a cross-sectional survey of 1297 unemployed white-collar workers from the public sector in Sweden. The degree of connection to working life was not significantly linked to the mental health of the unemployed, although there was a strong link between the perceived employment commitment and mental health among this group. The stronger the perceived employment commitment, the poorer the state of the person's mental health. Perceived economic concern was also tightly linked to mental health: the greater the economic concern, the poorer the mental health. Economic security also played - at least, partly - a moderate but significant role. The results provide strong support for the existence of both a psychosocial need and an economic need for employment. The analysis demonstrates that it is the perceived assessed measures of work involvement and financial situation that are linked to mental health.}},
  author       = {{Rantakeisu, U and Jönsson, Leif Roland}},
  issn         = {{1369-6866}},
  keywords     = {{white-collar workers; work involvement; mental health; unemployment; financial situation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{31--41}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Social Welfare}},
  title        = {{Unemployment and mental health among white-collar workers - question of work involvement and financial situation?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2397.00004}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/1468-2397.00004}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2003}},
}