Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2023

Open Access 01-12-2023 | Research

Perceived stress in adolescence and labour market participation in young adulthood - a prospective cohort study

Authors: Trine Nøhr Winding, Mette Lykke Nielsen, Regine Grytnes

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2023

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Adolescence is a key-developmental stage for physical, neurological, psychological, and social changes. In this developmental stage, a large number of people struggle with mental health problems like stress, anxiety, or depression. Psychological vulnerability in adolescence has previously been found to be negatively related to future low labour market participation. However, studies are lacking that investigate the impact of stress during adolescence on labour market participation in early adulthood using register data. The aim of this prospective study was therefore to examine the association between perceived stress during adolescence and labour market participation in young men and women in early adulthood.

Methods

A Danish cohort of 3038 participants born in 1989 was followed with use of questionnaires from age 15 to age 28. The exposure, self-reported perceived stress, was collected by questionnaires at ages 15, 18, and 21. The outcome, labour market participation, was based on register information on social benefits, such as unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, and disability benefits, collected on a weekly basis during a 4-year period. Information about the socioeconomic confounders was also gleaned from registers.

Results

The study found consistent associations between perceived stress from age 15 to age 21 and low labour market participation from age 25 to age 29 in both women and men after adjusting for mental health and socioeconomic confounders. The strongest associations between perceived stress and low labour market participation were seen among men who reported stress several times during adolescence.

Conclusions

The results indicate that although, women in general, reported being more stressed than men during adolescence and had lower labour market participation in early adulthood, there was a small group of men who had experienced stress during adolescence who were at particularly high risk of being marginalised in the labour market.
Literature
1.
Kerckhoff AC. From student to worker. In: Mortimer JT, Shanahan MJ, editors. Handbook of the life course. New York: Springer; 2003. pp. 251–67.CrossRef
2.
3.
4.
Viner RM, Ozer EM, Denny S, Marmot M, Resnick M, Fatusi A, et al. Adolescence and the social determinants of health. Lancet. 2012;379(9826):1641–52.CrossRef
5.
Reneflot A, Evensen M. Unemployment and psychological distress among young adults in the Nordic countries: A review of the literature. Int J Soc Welf. 2014;23(1):3–15.CrossRef
6.
Vancea M, Utzet M. How unemployment and precarious employment affect the health of young people: A scoping study on social determinants. Scand J Public Health. 2017;45(1):73–84.CrossRef
7.
Ueno K, Krause A. Occupational attainment and depressive symptoms in young adulthood. Stress Health. 2020;36(2):107–18.CrossRef
8.
Franzén EM, Kassman A. Longer-term Labour-market Consequences of. Economic Inactivity during Young Adulthood: A Swedish National Cohort Study. J Youth Stud. 2005;8(4):403–24.CrossRef
9.
10.
Johnson D, Dupuis G, Piche J, Clayborne Z, Colman I. Adult mental health outcomes of adolescent depression: A systematic review. Depress Anxiety. 2018;35(8):700–16.CrossRef
11.
Kaasbøll J, Sigurdson JF, Skokauskas N, Sund AM. Cohort profile: The Youth and Mental Health Study (YAMHS) – a longitudinal study of the period from adolescence to adulthood. PLoS ONE. 2021;16(2):e0247036.CrossRef
12.
Nielsen L, Curtis T, Kristensen TS, Rod Nielsen N. What characterizes persons with high levels of perceived stress in Denmark? A national representative study. Scand J Public Health. 2008;36(4):369–79.CrossRef
13.
Glasscock DJ, Andersen JH, Labriola M, Rasmussen K, Hansen CD. Can negative life events and coping style help explain socioeconomic differences in perceived stress among adolescents? A cross-sectional study based on the West Jutland cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1):532–45.CrossRef
14.
Jeppesen P, Obel C, Lund L, Bang K, Madsen L, Nielsen MN. Mental health and illness among children and adolescents age 10–24 years (Mental sundhed og sygdom hos børn og unge i alderen 10–24 aar.pdf). Copenhagen: Vidensråd for forebyggelse; 2020.
15.
Petersen A. The performance society (Præstationssamfundet). Copenhagen: Hans Reitzels Forlag; 2016.
16.
Madsen OJ. Generational achievement - what's wrong with us? (Generasjon prestasjon – hva er det som feiler oss?). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget; 2018.
17.
Sørensen N, Pless M, Katznelson N, Nielsen M. Picture Perfect (Præstationsorienteringer blandt unge i forskellige ungdomslivskontekster). Tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning. 2017;17(2):21.
18.
Farrugia D, Youth. Work and ‘Career’ as a Way of Talking about the Self. Work Employ Soc. 2020;35(5):856–71.CrossRef
19.
Nielsen JC, Sørensen NU, Osmec MN. When it is difficult to be young in Denmark (Når det er svært at være ung i DK –unges trivsel og mistrivsel i tal). Copenhagen: Aalborg University; 2010.
20.
Lander F, Rasmussen K, Mortensen JT. Social inequalities in childhood are predictors of unemployment in early adulthood. Dan Med J. 2012;59(3):A4394.
21.
Kristensen P, Bjerkedal T, Irgens LM, Gravseth HM, Brevik JI. Impact of life course determinants on work participation among young Norwegian men. Norsk Epidemiologi. 2005;15(1):65–74.
22.
Lund T, Andersen JH, Winding TN, Biering K, Labriola M. Negative life events in childhood as risk indicators of labour market participation in young adulthood: a prospective birth cohort study. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(9):e75860.CrossRef
23.
Winding TN, Andersen JH. Somatic Complaints in Adolescence and Labour Market Participation in Young Adulthood. Scand J Public Health. 2019;47(3):301–9.CrossRef
24.
Jensen JD, Andersen JH, Winding TN. Psychological resources in adolescence and the association with labour market participation in early adulthood: a prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1):386.CrossRef
25.
Fletcher J. Adolescent Depression and Adult Labor Market Outcomes. South Econ J. 2013;80(1):26–49.CrossRef
26.
Veldman K, Reijneveld SA, Verhulst FC, Ortiz JA, Bultmann U. A life course perspective on mental health problems, employment, and work outcomes. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2017;43(4):316–25.CrossRef
27.
De Groot S, Veldman K, Amick Iii BC, Oldehinkel TAJ, Arends I, Bultmann U. Does the timing and duration of mental health problems during childhood and adolescence matter for labour market participation of young adults? J Epidemiol Community Health. 2021;75(9):896–902.CrossRef
28.
Egan M, Daly M, Delaney L. Childhood psychological distress and youth unemployment: evidence from two British cohort studies. Soc Sci Med. 2015;124:11–7.CrossRef
29.
Egan M, Daly M, Delaney L. Adolescent psychological distress, unemployment, and the Great Recession: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997. Soc Sci Med. 2016;156:98–105.CrossRef
30.
Hanson JL, Albert D, Iselin AM, Carre JM, Dodge KA, Hariri AR. Cumulative stress in childhood is associated with blunted reward-related brain activity in adulthood. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2016;11(3):405–12.CrossRef
31.
Trolle N, Lund T, Winding TN, Labriola M. Perceived stress among 20–21 year-olds and their future labour market participation - an eight-year follow-up study. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1):287.CrossRef
32.
Brooks TL, Harris SK, Thrall JS, Woods ER. Association of adolescent risk behaviors with mental health symptoms in high school students. J Adolesc Health. 2002;31(3):240–6.CrossRef
33.
Taylor SE, Klein LC, Lewis BP, Gruenewald TL, Gurung RAR, Updegraff JA. Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychol Rev. 2000;107(3):411–29.CrossRef
34.
Lundborg P, Nilsson A, Rooth DO. Adolescent health and adult labor market outcomes. J Health Econ. 2014;37:25–40.CrossRef
35.
Thorsen SV, Pedersen J, Flyvholm MA, Kristiansen J, Rugulies R, Bultmann U. Perceived stress and sickness absence: a prospective study of 17,795 employees in Denmark. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2019;92(6):821–8.CrossRef
36.
Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R. A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behav. 1983;24(4):385–96.CrossRef
37.
Lazarus RS, Folkman S. Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer; 1984.
38.
Winding TN, Andersen JH, Labriola M, Nohr EA. Initial non-participation and loss to follow-up in a Danish youth cohort: implications for relative risk estimates. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 2014;68(2):137–44.CrossRef
39.
Poulsen PH, Biering K, Winding TN, Nohr EA, Petersen LV, Ulijaszek SJ, et al. How does psychosocial stress affect the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and overweight and obesity? Examining Hemmingsson's model with data from a Danish longitudinal study. BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):1475.CrossRef
40.
Schmidt M, Pedersen L, Sorensen HT. The Danish Civil Registration System as a tool in epidemiology. Eur J Epidemiol. 2014;29(8):541–9.CrossRef
41.
Hjollund NH, Larsen FB, Andersen JH. Register based follow-up on social benefits and other transfer payments. Accuracy and degree of completeness in a Danish interdepartmental administrative database compared to a population based survey. Scand J Public Health. 2007;35:497–502.CrossRef
42.
Fendrich M, Weissman MM, Warner V. Screening for depressive disorder in children and adolescents: validating the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children. Am J Epidemiol. 1990;131(3):538–51.CrossRef
43.
Baadsgaard M, Quitzau J. Danish registers on personal income and transfer payments. Scand J Public Health. 2011;39(7 Suppl):103–5.CrossRef
44.
Jensen VM, Rasmussen AW. Danish Education Registers. Scand J Public Health. 2011;39(7 Suppl):91–4.CrossRef
45.
Pedersen CB. The Danish Civil Registration System. Scand J Public Health. 2011;39(7 Suppl):22–5.CrossRef
46.
Ruben D. Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York: Wiley; 1987.CrossRef
47.
48.
49.
50.
Holstein B. Mental health and illness among 0–9 year-olds (Mental sundhed og psykisk sygdom hos 0-9-årige børn). Copenhagen: Videnråd for forebyggelse; 2021.
51.
Grytnes R. Making the Right Choice! Inquiries into the Reasoning Behind Young People’s Decisions about Education. Young. 2011;19(3):333–51.CrossRef
52.
Sterne JA, White IR, Carlin JB, Spratt M, Royston P, Kenward MG, et al. Multiple imputation for missing data in epidemiological and clinical research: potential and pitfalls. BMJ (Clinical research ed). 2009;338:b2393.CrossRef
53.
Podsakoff PM, MacKenzie SB, Lee JY, Podsakoff NP. Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. J Appl Psychol. 2003;88(5):879–903.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Perceived stress in adolescence and labour market participation in young adulthood - a prospective cohort study
Authors
Trine Nøhr Winding
Mette Lykke Nielsen
Regine Grytnes
Publication date
01-12-2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2023
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15120-0

Other articles of this Issue 1/2023

BMC Public Health 1/2023 Go to the issue

Study Protocol

The People’s War Against Pandemic: protocol for a randomized control trial based on a virtual interactive training system intervention to improve the emergency preparedness of public for major emerging infectious diseases

Research

The impact of COVID-19 prevention and control policy adjustment on anxiety, depression and coping behavior in China: a cross-sectional online survey, 21–28 December, 2022

Research

Australian, Irish, and Swedish women’s comfort levels when breastfeeding in public

Research

Comorbidities of diabetes and hypertension in Vietnam: current burden, trends over time, and correlated factors

Research

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) blood levels and potential hematological health risk among inhabitants of the claimed hazardous region around Qaroun Lake in Egypt

Research

Vaccination against influenza in pregnant women in a maternity hospital in the Czech Republic in the season 2020–2021