The Association Between Employment Status and Mental Health in Young Adults: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Korea

Background There has been limited evidence on the association between employment status and mental health among young adults. Therefore, this study investigated the association between employment status and mental health in Korean young adults. Methods Data from 15,649 adults aged 19–39 years who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2013, 2015, and 2017) were analyzed. Employment status was categorized by those who worked in paid jobs or those who did unpaid work for relatives. Mental health problems included depressive mood and suicide ideation. We performed a multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Of the participants, 33.5% were unemployed. The odds ratio (OR) of depressive mood (1.28, 95% CI: 1.06–1.55) was higher in unemployed 20-year-olds than employed ones and ORs of suicide ideation were higher among unemployed males (1.59, 1.16–2.20) and 30-year-olds (1.38, 1.13–1.70) than employed ones, respectively. Further, compared to employed males, the ORs of depressive mood (3.10, 2.54–3.77) and suicide ideation (4.44, 3.57–5.53) were the highest among unemployed females. Limitations This study could not explain the causal relationship between employment status and mental health because it was a cross-sectional study. We did not include the relationship between mental health and employment status before the last week. Conclusions Among young adults, unemployed status was significantly associated with an increased risk of mental health problems such as depressive mood and suicide ideation. Multifaceted efforts are required to reduce these mental health issues among unemployed young adults.