Employment Status and Its Association With Psychological Distress and Alcohol Consumption.

Namrata Walia,Lianett Acosta,Chhaya Kamwal,David Leszkowitz,Rishtina Bhetuwal,Swathi Muddasani,Vivaswan D Mishra

doi:10.7759/cureus.16054

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this analysis was to find an association between employment status, psychological distress, and alcohol consumption.Methods: Data from the 2020 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data was used. Patient health questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) data and an average number of drinks per week were used to assess psychological distress and drinking status.Results: Out of the 3865 people who answered the survey in the year 2020, 1890 (59.11%) were employed in one or multiple jobs during the time of the survey. The sample included 1561 men and 2204 women with an average age of 48.4 years. More than half (58.7%) of them were Non-Hispanic White followed by Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Black at 15.73% and 10.32%, respectively. Bivariate analysis showed a significant association between employment, psychological distress (p value=0.032), and alcohol drinking (p value=0.002); 60.59% of participants reporting severe distress (PHQ-4 score of 9-12) were unemployed. Alternatively, 73.1% of the employed respondents reported no stress (PHQ-4 score of 0-2). While more than half (75.97%) of those who were unemployed consumed only 1-2 drinks per week on an average, 7.27% consumed >13 drinks per week on an average. After adjusting for covariates, the regression analysis showed a highly significant association (p value< 0.001) between unemployment and psychological distress (OR=1.55; 95% CI 1.03, 2.31), and alcohol consumption (OR=0.67; 95% CI 0.48, 0.92).Conclusion: Unemployment is associated with outcomes like psychological distress and alcohol consumption. However, being employed was found to be more strongly associated with alcohol drinking. We do not know if the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was a risk factor for the given outcomes.

Highlights

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or more commonly known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was declared to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in early 2020 [1]
Bivariate analysis showed a significant association between employment, psychological distress (p value=0.032), and alcohol drinking (p value=0.002); 60.59% of participants reporting severe distress (PHQ-4 score of 9-12) were unemployed
After adjusting for covariates, the regression analysis showed a highly significant association (p value< 0.001) between unemployment and psychological distress (OR=1.55; 95% CI 1.03, 2.31), and alcohol consumption (OR=0.67; 95% CI 0.48, 0.92)

Summary

Introduction

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or more commonly known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was declared to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in early 2020 [1]. The increase in unemployment has been a major concern for the United States since the shutdown of the country due to the on-going pandemic. A total of 20.6 million people were reported to have lost their jobs in the first couple months of the pandemic in 2020, resulting in an unemployment rate of 14.7%, which gradually increased to 14.8% in April 2020 before it started to decline to 6.7% in October 2020 [2,3]. The rate of unemployment peaked in April 2020 during which nearly 49 million Americans were unemployed [4]. The highest rates of unemployment were reported in New Jersey (10.2%), followed by Hawaii (10.2%), Nevada (10.1%), New York (8.4%), and Louisiana (8.3%) [5]

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