Social support in relation to mental well-being among the unemployed A factory closure study in Finland

Abstract

The association between social support and mental well-being was studied in a Finnish factory closure study involving the entire personnel (n = 211) of Finnforest wood-processing factory 6 months after they had been made redundant. Mental well-being was measured by using a 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ score), a 13-item Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI score), and a 13-item questionnaire assessing psychosomatic symptoms (PS score). One hundred and sixty-eight persons (79%) returned the questionnaires. Thirty-three of these were excluded from the analysis because they had already found a new job. Sixteen per cent (n = 21) considered social support insufficient, and 84% (n = 114) considered it good or adequate. All instruments used indicated that those who considered social support insufficient experienced impaired mental well-being more often than the others. The association between insufficient social support and impaired mental well-being was not related to age or marital status. Insufficient...