A serious mental disorder in one's youth can have a lasting impact on employment prospects

August 21, 2019

Science Daily/University of Helsinki

Mental disorders experienced in adolescence and early adulthood that require hospital care are connected with low income, poor education and unemployment over the life span of individuals.

A recently completed Finnish study indicates that those who have been hospitalised due to a mental disorder before turning 25 have considerably poorer prospects on the labour market compared to the rest of the population. The risk of being absent from the labour market and not completing an upper secondary-level qualification or a higher degree is great.

The employment rate was the lowest among individuals who were hospitalised for schizophrenia. Of them, less than 10% were employed during the follow-up period of the study.

Less than half of the individuals hospitalised for mood disorders worked after the age of 25.

The earnings of people with serious mental disorders in their youth were quite low and did not improve later. More than half had no earnings over the follow-up period.

The extensive register-based study involved more than 2 million individuals living in Finland between 1988 and 2015, who were monitored between 25 and 52 years of age.

"People suffering from mental disorders drop out from the labour market for a wide range of reasons. However, opportunities for contributing to professional life and acquiring an education should already be taken into consideration at the early stages of treating serious mental disorders, provided the patient's condition allows it," states Christian Hakulinen, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Helsinki.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190821105501.htm

Major study finds one in five children have mental health problems

Results from the Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS)

April 17, 2019

Science Daily/McMaster University

One in five Ontario children and youth suffer from a mental disorder, but less than one-third have had contact with a mental health care provider, says the Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS).

Although those overall results echo a similar study from 1983, the new study found a much larger proportion of children and youth with a disorder had contact with other health providers and in other settings, most often through schools.

The new study, called the 2014 OCHS for when data collection started, found that the patterns of prevalence among different sexes and age groups have changed.

Hyperactivity disorder in boys four to 11 years old jumped dramatically from nine to 16 percent, but there has been a substantial drop in disruptive behaviour among males 12 to 16 years old from 10 to 3 per cent. There has been a steep increase in anxiety and depression among both male and female youth from 9 to 13 per cent.

At the same time, there was a significant rise in perceptions of need for professional help with mental health disorders, rising from seven per cent in the original OCHS in 1983 to 19 per cent in the 2014 OCHS. However, the study authors say it is difficult to estimate whether it is tied to the growing prominence of anti-stigma and mental health awareness campaigns over the past three decades.

In 30 years, the prevalence of any disorder increased in communities with a population of 1,000 to 100,000, rather than large urban areas, and there is strong evidence that poor children are more likely to have a disorder if their neighbourhood is one where violence is more common.

The study also found that in the past year more than eight per cent of youth thought about suicide, and 4 per cent reported a suicide attempt.

The 2014 OCHS study included 10,802 children and youth aged four to 17 in 6,537 families. It replicated and expanded on the landmark 1983 Ontario Child Health Study of 3,290 children in 1,869 families.

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has simultaneously published eight papers on different aspects of the 2014 OCHS results.

"This is a very robust study we feel represents the situation in Canada," said Michael Boyle, co-principal investigator of the study. "That means there are more than a million Canadian children and youth with a mental health problem. This needs to be addressed."

Co-principal investigator Kathy Georgiades added: "This study underscores the continued need for effective prevention and intervention programs."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190417153803.htm