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Is the association between precarious employment and mental health mediated by economic difficulties in males? Results from two Italian studies.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Flexible employment is increasing across Europe and recent studies show an association with poor mental health. The goal of the current study is to examine this association in the Italian population to assess the possible mediating role of financial strain. METHODS:Data were obtained by two Italian cross-sectional studies (PASSI and HIS) aimed at monitoring the general population health status, health behaviours and determinants. Mental health status was assessed using alternatively two validated questionnaires (the PHQ-2 and the MCS-12 score) and Poisson regression models were performed to assess if precarious work was associated with poor mental health. A formal mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate if the association between precarious work and mental health was mediated by financial strain. RESULTS:The analyses were performed on 31,948 subjects in PASSI and on 21,894 subjects in HIS. A nearly two-fold risk of depression and poor mental health was found among precarious workers, compared to workers with a permanent contract, which was strongly mediated by financial strain. CONCLUSIONS:Even with the limitations of a cross-sectional design, this research supports that precarious employment contributes through financial strain to reduce the mental health related quality of life and to increase mental disorders such as symptoms of depression or dysthymia. This suggests that when stability in work cannot be guaranteed, it would be appropriate to intervene on the wages of precarious jobs and to provide social safety nets for ensuring adequate income.

SUBMITTER: Ferrante G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6609380 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Is the association between precarious employment and mental health mediated by economic difficulties in males? Results from two Italian studies.

Ferrante Gianluigi G Fasanelli Francesca F Gigantesco Antonella A Ferracin Elisa E Contoli Benedetta B Costa Giuseppe G Gargiulo Lidia L Marra Michele M Masocco Maria M Minardi Valentina V Violani Cristiano C Zengarini Nicolás N d'Errico Angelo A Ricceri Fulvio F

BMC public health 20190703 1

<h4>Background</h4>Flexible employment is increasing across Europe and recent studies show an association with poor mental health. The goal of the current study is to examine this association in the Italian population to assess the possible mediating role of financial strain.<h4>Methods</h4>Data were obtained by two Italian cross-sectional studies (PASSI and HIS) aimed at monitoring the general population health status, health behaviours and determinants. Mental health status was assessed using ...[more]

PMID: 31269944

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Project description:OBJECTIVES:Precarious employment (PE) is a determinant of poor health and health inequality. However, the evidence of health consequences and mechanisms underlying the associations, are still limited due to a lack of a comprehensive multidimensional definition and measurement instrument. The Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) is a Spanish, multidimensional scale, developed to measure degree of PE. The aim of this study was to translate the EPRES-2010 into Swedish, adapt it to the Swedish context and to assess the psychometric properties of the Swedish EPRES. METHOD:EPRES was translated, adapted and implemented for data collection within the research project PRecarious EMployment in Stockholm (PREMIS). During 2016-2017, questionnaire data were collected from 483 non-standard employees in Stockholm, Sweden, sampled with web-based respondent-driven sampling. Analyses included item descriptive statistics, scale descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS:The final EPRES-Se (Swedish version of the EPRES),consisted of six dimensions and 23 items. There was a high response rate to all items and response options. Global Cronbach's alpha was 0.83. Subscales 'vulnerability', 'rights' and 'exercise rights' had reliability coefficients between α=0.78-0.89 and item-subscale correlations between r=0.48-0.78. 'Temporariness' had poor reliability (α=-0.08) and inter-item correlation (r=-0.04), while 'disempowerment' showed acceptable psychometric properties (α=0.5; r=0.34). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the original EPRES factor structure. CONCLUSIONS:'Vulnerability', 'wages', 'rights', 'exercise rights' and 'disempowerment' worked in the Swedish context; however, 'temporariness' would need revising before implementing the EPRES-Se in further research. Continued work and validation of EPRES-Se is encouraged. In order to enable international comparisons and multinational studies, similar studies in other European countries are also called for.

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Is the association between precarious employment and mental health mediated by economic difficulties in males? Results from two Italian studies.

Publications

Is the association between precarious employment and mental health mediated by economic difficulties in males? Results from two Italian studies.

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