Unemployment Syndrome during COVID-19: A Comparison of Three Population Groups

Abstract

Introduction: Of the serious problems that characterise the current crisis in Spain, the most alarming and revealing is unemployment, which, despite being so common, continues to be quite a negative experience for most people, often with serious negative effects on their biopsychosocial health. The perpetuation of this situation has given rise to a new syndrome of the unemployed. If these effects of economic downsizing are accompanied by the magnitude of the current situation brought about by COVID-19, the results can be devastating for the individuals and families experiencing it. Objective: To compare the symptoms of the unemployed syndrome in three population groups. Method: Three groups were studied: short-term unemployed (n = 91), long-term unemployed (n = 150), and those unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 94). Unemployment syndrome was assessed with the Unemployment Syndrome Scale (USS). The three population groups were contacted through web pages, social networks, etc. and answered the instruments online in a single session. Once the responses were obtained, their information was encoded in a database and analysed through the SPSS v. 21 program. Population groups were compared using the ANOVA analysis and the Bonferroni post hoc test. Results: The unemployed individuals who lost their job during the pandemic reported higher scores in the symptoms of the Unemployed Syndrome Scale compared to the long- and short-term unemployed individuals. ANOVA analyses for symptoms of USS were all significant in the different groups considering a significance level of <0.005. Participants who were unemployed for less than one year had lower scores in the USS than the long-term unemployed participants and those unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic that reported a significantly higher number of symptoms in the USS.

The COVID-19 Shock: A Bayesian Approach

“…On the other hand, Pinilla et al (2021) showed that autonomous regions in Spain are most dependent on the service sector, especially tourism, as being the most negatively affected by Covit-19 shock and the associated confinement measures, revealing structural weaknesses in productive sectors in the Spanish economy. Bocchino et al (2021) argued that an unexpected and stressful factor such as COVID-19 may lead to feelings of vulnerability and helplessness, which affect personal health and lower productivity.…”

COVID-19 Induced Economic Slowdown and Mental Health Issues

“…In fact, even though the labor market started to recover rapidly after the peak period of outbreak, the unemployment rate remained high, for example, in the United States, the unemployment rate remained at 6.9% in October 2020 (Yao and Wu, 2021). Bocchino et al (2021) concluded a new syndrome of the unemployed which is generally devastating for individuals and families. They found a greater symptomatology of the unemployment syndrome in the unemployed compared to the employed as stress, deterioration of the quality of life, low self-esteem, hopelessness, low personal satisfaction, anxiety, hostility, impotence, frustration, sleep pattern disorders, fear, feeling of irritability, and lack of adaptive resources and management of stressors.…”

“…They found a greater symptomatology of the unemployment syndrome in the unemployed compared to the employed as stress, deterioration of the quality of life, low self-esteem, hopelessness, low personal satisfaction, anxiety, hostility, impotence, frustration, sleep pattern disorders, fear, feeling of irritability, and lack of adaptive resources and management of stressors. Besides, the unemployed scored higher in abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other harmful substances, which may further develop into substance abuse without a proper coping strategy (Bocchino et al, 2021). Within all the named symptoms of the unemployed syndrome, losing the meaning of life and individual functioning is the most struggling for many individuals, which is the culprit that can give people the biggest blow (Thill et al, 2020;Levy and Cohen-Louck, 2021;Rosen and Stenbeck, 2021).…”

The Massive Impact of the pandemic on unemployment

“…The research agenda includes examining how this unemployment crisis differs from previous unemployment crises, examining the nature of the grief evoked by the simultaneous loss of work and loss of life, acknowledging and addressing the privilege of scholars [16]. [6], [8] The purpose of this study is to provide insight into how COVID-19 has affected Indian unemployment. 120 million people may be forced back into poverty as a result of COVID-19induced economic disturbances, which might result in the loss of up to 135 million jobs.…”