Unemployment across Young Adulthood and Its "Scarring Effects" on Later Mental Health Disorders: The Role of Childhood Neighborhood Characteristics

Background: In January 2017 alone, 7.6 million Americans lost their jobs. Unemployment has been shown to lead to short-term mental health problems, but the possibility of long-term “scarring effects” of unemployment during young adulthood on later mental health has been mostly overlooked. Further, life course and socioecological perspectives suggest that childhood neighborhood contexts may play a role in the association of unemployment with mental health. No study yet has empirically tested this hypothesis, leaving concrete and malleable social work intervention targets for adult mental health unidentified.

The current prospective study addressed three central research questions. First, we tested the “scarring effects” of young adults’ unemployment by testing whether the cumulative duration of unemployment during young adulthood (ages 21–33) is associated with mental health disorders at age 39. Second, we tested whether neighborhood circumstances in childhood contribute to the link between the duration of unemployment and mental health disorders and if so, in what functional ways (i.e., a common determinant, additive effect, or interactive effect). Third, we tested potential sex differences.

Methods: Data came from the Seattle Social Development Project (n=808), a panel study examining a broad range of developmental outcomes from ages 10 to 39. Major depressive-, generalized anxiety-, and social phobia disorder measures were assessed using the DSM-IV-based Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Participants’ unemployment history was prospectively measured using the life-course calendar, which was utilized to calculate the duration of unemployment from ages 21 to 33. Self-reported childhood neighborhood disorganization (e.g., gangs, crime) and positive neighborhood characteristics (e.g., positive rewards from neighbors) were assessed at ages 10-18. Covariates included childhood symptoms of psychopathology, earlier substance use, gender, ethnicity, childhood socioeconomic status, and educational attainment at age 21. Multiple logistic regression was used as the main modeling strategy.

Results: Duration of unemployment during young adulthood was associated with major depressive and generalized anxiety disorder. Exposure to a positive childhood neighborhood was associated with a 57% reduction in the odds of having generalized anxiety disorder. Similarly, positive childhood neighborhood exposure significantly reduced the odds of having social phobia by 70%. Positive childhood neighborhood exposure was also marginally associated with reduced odds of having major depressive episode. The childhood neighborhood disorganization measure did not predict any of the mental health measures in the present study. We found no evidence for sex differences in the effect of unemployment on mental health.

Conclusions and Implications: Our findings suggests that young adults’ unemployment experience may cast “scarring effects” on mental health later in life for both men and women. Findings also show that childhood neighborhoods, particularly their positive features, exert an independent protective impact on adult mental health, supporting the additive effect hypothesis and underscoring the importance of community-based prevention efforts during childhood. Taken together, the present study urges us that social work efforts aiming to promote adults’ mental health can and should start early in life and then be strengthened later in life during critical developmental junction points, such as young adulthood, particularly when individuals experience substantial life stressors, such as unemployment.