Mental health in teens may predict future employment, according to a new study revealing that individuals who suffered emotional problems in their teenage years were significantly less likely to find jobs in the future.
The latest study, conducted at the University of Stirling, revealed that teens who were highly distressed between the ages of 16 and 20 were 32 percent more likely to be unemployed and 26 percent more likely to be unemployed in early adulthood.
After analyzing results from 7,125 participants over a 12-year period, researchers found that adolescents who reported feeling nervous or depressed were substantially more likely to experience joblessness in early adulthood compared to those who reported feeling calm or happy. Researchers said these findings held true even after comparing individuals with siblings growing up in the same family.
Researchers said the latest findings highlight the importance of mental health by revealing the magnitude of how emotional problems affects society as a whole.
"These findings provide strong evidence of the unemployment penalty of early-life psychological distress and suggest that this relationship may be intensified during economic recessions. Investing in mental health in early life may be an effective way to reduce unemployment," wrote study authors.
"There are several reasons why early psychological distress may lead to lower employment later in life. Persistent distress may lead to less effective engagement during a person's school years, culminating in reduced educational attainment limiting future employment opportunities," explained researchers.
"Whilst work performance was not observed in the current study, it remains possible that anxiety and depression could have directly impaired job performance and work attendance, leading to less positive evaluations by employers and adversely affecting job retention," they added.
Researchers also wrote that emotionally distressed individuals may have a hard time finding employment as job search is "a psychologically demanding process requiring reserves of perseverance, motivation and self-esteem."
Another explanation is that managers or employers may be biased against hiring people with mental health issues.
Whatever the reason, findings from the latest study emphasize the economic need for treating mental health issues in children and adolescents.
"Investing in childhood and adolescent mental health services could have economic benefits including reducing population-level unemployment. Widening access to effective treatments for early life distress could lead to large economic returns by helping individuals into employment and increasing their lifetime earnings," said lead researcher Mark Egan, according to a university release.
The findings were published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.
