This paper examines the psychometric properties of an existing measure of mental health, the GHQ‐12, as revealed in three studies involving employees in an engineering firm (n = 659), recent school‐leavers (n = 647), and unemployed men (n = 92). The measure was shown to be psychometrically sound in all cases, with a Likert scoring method providing a more acceptable distribution of scores than the more commonly deployed ‘ GHQ score ’ for use in parametric statistical analyses. Scores on GHQ‐12 were found to be much higher (indicating lower mental health) for those who were unemployed, higher for women than for men in one sample, and unrelated to age, job level and marital status.

There is growing evidence for an association between unemployment and reduced psychological well-being. Moreover, this relationship appears to be moderated by a number of factors This article describes a longitudinal study of two cohorts of young people in the first 3 years of their adult working lives Evidence is presented to show that psychological distress is higher for the unemployed than for the employed and that changes in employment status lead to changes in distress scores This relationship is shown to be moderated by individuals' commitment to paid employment such that the effect of movement between work and unemployment is greatest for those whose employment commitment is high Recent cross-sectional studies have shown a significant positive association of unemployment with reduced psychological wellbeing This association has been demonstrated with respect to happiness (Bradburn, 1969), life satisfaction (Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976), satisfaction with self (Cohn, 1978), anxiety and positive and negative affect (Warr, 1978), negative self-esteem (Warr & Jackson, in press), minor psychiatric morbidity (Banks & Jackson, 1982; Stafford, Jackson, & Banks, 1980), and probability of being identified as a psychiatric case (Bebbmgton, Hurry, Tennant, Sturt, & Wing, 1981) The cross-sectional link between employment status and well-being is especially clear with respect to male workers and those female workers who are themselves principal wage earners. For other groups of women the pattern is more complex, with a number of important moderating variables coming into play (Warr & Parry, 1982).One factor that has been shown to moderate the relationship between employment status and psychological well-being in both men and women is the dispositional variable that may be referred to as employment commitment This reflects the degree to which Requests for reprints should be sent to Paul R Jackson, MRC

Seven months after school‐leaving 647 young people were interviewed. Path analysis was used to examine the predictors of unemployment and psychological well‐being. It was found that young people were at risk of being unemployed if they had an unemployed father, few or no qualifications, low work motivation, and if they were West Indian. Young people who were unemployed, from social class 4 and 5, or female, had poor mental health as measured by the General Health Questionnaire. Work involvement moderated the relationship between employment status and mental health.

This study identifies that almost one third of the parents who presented to these adolescent medicine clinics had negative opinions about some privacy practices. The 2 main issues were teens' seeing a provider alone and providers' keeping information confidential. Education was effective in teaching parents about privacy issues and produced a significant improvement in parental opinion about confidentiality. Simultaneously, an overwhelming majority of parents support the idea that teens should speak with a provider alone if the teen so desires, suggesting that parents acknowledge a need for independence. Providing confidential services is an essential part of adolescent health care that works best with the alliance of parents. This study supports the continued need to assess parental attitudes about privacy issues and to provide parents with education.

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