The measure of precarious employment and its impact on the mental health of workers: A systematic review 2007–2020

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Precarious employment conditions can influence the worker’s mental health; however, there is no consensus regarding the definition of precarious employment or the way it is measured. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to identify existing research of the conceptual framework, the ways to measure precarious employment and its impact on the mental health of workers. METHODS: A systematic review with the strategic search for observational-empirical and qualitative studies published between 2007 and 2020 in Embase, Scopus and PubMed, full text, in English and Spanish. Studies were selected and excluded, according to eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers and one arbitrator evaluated the quality of selected papers with the STROBE guidelines for observational studies and SRQR for qualitative ones. RESULTS: 408 studies were obtained, 21 met inclusion criteria, in 14 studies precarious employment was measured one-dimensionally. Of these, 11 with the dimension of temporality and three with insecurity. Four studies it was measured in a multidimensional way, with the Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) and in three qualitative designs, with different categories of analysis. Mental health was measured with SF-36 (n = 4), GHQ-12 (n = 3) and CES-D (n = 3). CONCLUSIONS: The concept of precarious employment requires a multidimensional construct, although the tendency to measure precarious employment is one-dimensional. Regardless of how is measured, this has a negative impact on the mental health of workers. The outcomes related to this social determinant included depression, depressive symptoms, psychological distress, stress, and suicidal thoughts. Youths, women, people with low levels of education and immigrants are the groups that show the major precariousness.

Association between precarious employment and the onset of depressive symptoms in men and women: a 13-year longitudinal analysis in Korea (2009–2022)

“…Our findings are consistent with prior research demonstrating the link between PE and compromised mental health among workers. As indicated in systematic reviews (Jaramillo et al, 2022;Ronnblad et al, 2019), previous evidence has predominantly concentrated on the type of contract. Similarly, earlier Korean studies defined PE primarily based on contract types, revealing associations between insecure employment and depressive symptoms (Han et al, 2017;Jang et al, 2015;Oh et al, 2021).…”

“…Alongside physical conditions, PE is closely associated with mental health. Systematic reviews have demonstrated that specific elements, such as temporary employment or perceived job insecurity, exhibit positive associations with depressive symptoms or psychological distress (Jaramillo et al, 2022;Ronnblad et al, 2019). In recent years, studies have increasingly focused on the multi-dimensionality of PE.…”

“…Considering that the manifestation of PE and its influence on mental health can be greatly influenced by regional policies (Padrosa et al, 2022), its association with the onset of depressive symptoms among Korean workers can provide a meaningful contribution to the literature. Second, as highlighted in previous systematic reviews (Jaramillo et al, 2022;Ronnblad et al, 2019), studies examining the relationship between PE and depressive symptoms often relied on a unidimensional definition based on the contract type; the association between depressive symptoms and PE elements beyond temporary employment remains an understudied area (Jaramillo et al, 2022;Ronnblad et al, 2019). Third, previous Korean studies on the effects of PE on mental health have predominantly utilized a cross-sectional design (Baek et al, 2023;Gong and Park, 2023), thus failing to establish a temporal association between PE and depressive symptoms.…”

“…Systematic reviews have demonstrated that specific elements, such as temporary employment or perceived job insecurity, exhibit positive associations with depressive symptoms or psychological distress (Jaramillo et al. , 2022; Ronnblad et al. , 2019).…”

Who seeks sex therapy? Sexual dysfunction prevalence and correlates, and help-seeking among clinical and community samples

“…However, in the clinical sample, only sexual satisfaction was significantly related to lower numbers of reported SDs. This finding might be partially explained by the effect of confounding variables, such as financial hardship and adverse relational experiences (e.g., sexual assault, partner violence), both of which are particularly prevalent among sex therapy clients [19,80] and have been found to be negatively associated with mental health and relational well-being [81,82]. Since we found relational well-being to be more strongly related to sexual satisfaction than to sexual function in both samples, dyadic adjustment might be a less reliable indicator of sexual functioning than other relational factors such as (sexual) communication, sexual compatibility, partner's sexual functioning or sexual skills, relational avoidance, romantic attachment, or levels of conflicts or coercion [8,[83][84][85][86][87].…”