Unemployment as a source of mental distress to individuals and their family: Unemployed parents perceptions during the economic recession

Background: Due to the economic recession, several people in Europe became unemployed. This situation may risk their mental health. Aim: This study explored parents’ perceptions about their unemployment’s effects in daily life during the recession. Methods: A total of 59 unemployed parents (40.7% fathers and 59.3% mothers), ageing 44.4 years (±6.2), answer a question on how the unemployment affected their family lives. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Results: The findings suggest that unemployment is a source of adult and youth mental distress and of economic hardship and changes in family relations. Conclusion: Support to unemployed individuals and their families could benefit from these insights when granting the needed financial and socioemotional assistance.

Distress and unemployment: The related economic and noneconomic factors in a sample of unemployed adults

Objectives To examine the associations between economic and noneconomic factors and psychological distressin a group of 748 unemployed adults during economic recession. Methods Data were collected through a questionnaire. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to test the associations between distress and the deprivation of income and latent benefits of employment (time structure, activity, status, collective purpose and social contact). Results The participants’ mean of distress was higher than the national population mean, and 46.5% of the participants scored above that. All economic and noneconomic factors emerged as strong predictors of distress; particularly financial deprivation (OR 1.06; CI 95 % 1.04–1.09) and lack of structured time (OR 1.07; CI 95 % 1.05–1.09). Women (OR 1.40; CI 95 % 1.04–1.86) and people with lower education levels (OR 0.45; CI 95 % 0.34–0.61) were more affected. Conclusions The unemployed individuals score high on distress, especially those facing financial strain and lack of structured time, and women and individuals with lower education in particular. Given the recessionary context and high unemployment rates, these insights raise awareness for policies and actions targeting the needs of unemployed people.

Unemployment, parental distress and youth emotional well-being: The moderation roles of parent-youth relationship and financial deprivation

We investigated, in a sample of 112 unemployed parents of adolescents aged 10-19 years, the links between parental distress and change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment, and the moderation roles of parent-youth relationship and financial deprivation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlations. Further, simple moderation, additive moderation, and moderated moderation models of regression were performed to analyze the effects of parental distress, parent-youth relationship and financial deprivation in predicting change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment. Results show that parental distress moderated by parent-youth relationship predicted levels of change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment. This study provides evidence that during job loss, parental distress is linked to youth emotional well-being and that parent-youth relationships play an important moderation role. This raises the importance of further researching parental distress impacts on youth well-being, especially during periods of high unemployment rates.