Unemployment and Psychological Distress among Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychological Resources and Risk Factors.

Tehila Refaeli,Netta Achdut

doi:10.3390/ijerph17197163

Abstract

In the wake of COVID-19, unemployment and its potential deleterious consequences have attracted renewed interest. We examined (1) the association between unemployment, occurring upon the coronavirus outbreak, and psychological distress among Israeli young people (20–35-years-old); (2) the associations between various psychological resources/risk factors and psychological distress; and (3) whether these resources and risk factors were moderators in the unemployment-psychological distress link. A real-time survey based on snowball sampling was conducted during the month of April 2020 (N = 390). We employed hierarchical linear models to explore associations between unemployment, psychological resources, risk factors, and psychological distress. Unemployment was independently associated with greater psychological distress. Perceived trust, optimism, and sense of mastery decreased psychological distress, whereas financial strain and loneliness during the crisis increased this distress. The effect of unemployment on psychological distress did not depend on participants’ resource and risk factor levels. Policymakers must develop and extend health initiatives aimed at alleviating the mental health consequences of COVID-19-related unemployment and promote labor market interventions to help young job seekers integrate into employment. These measures, which are in line with the UN sustainable development goals, should be seen as an important route to promote public health.

Highlights

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization [1] characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.This pandemic has affected all aspects of human life worldwide and has manifested in increasing numbers of infected people and a rising mortality rate in several countries [2]
There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. This finding indicates that the newly unemployed young people did not differ from the young people who continued to work during the pandemic with respect to any of the demographic characteristics, PIA in routine times, physical health status, perceived trust, trust in institutions, sense of mastery, optimism, or subjective loneliness
As expected, substantial differences between the groups were found in the two measures indicating a change in their situation during the crisis: Unemployed participants were more likely to report financial strain in the wake of the crisis, as measured by emerging difficulties in covering their household expenses, and they were more likely to report an increase in their feelings of loneliness

Summary

Introduction

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization [1] characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.This pandemic has affected all aspects of human life worldwide and has manifested in increasing numbers of infected people and a rising mortality rate in several countries [2]. The Israeli policy at the beginning of the crisis was considered to be quite strict: it imposed, almost all at once, comprehensive restrictions such as not leaving home for any public spaces, staying home except when absolutely necessary to go out (i.e., work, in accordance with prescribed limits; buying food or medicine; receiving medical treatment; performing other essential activities), and a prohibition against congregating [3]. At this time, all educational institutions for children ages 0–18 were shuttered (until mid-May). In April, the Israeli government announced curfews and a

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