More Americans experience job loss-related depression than Europeans

Americans have a higher incidence of depression after job loss compared with Europeans, according to recent study findings published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Carlos Riumallo-Herl, MSc, of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and colleagues evaluated 15,055 adults aged 50 to 64 years from 13 European countries and the United States from 2006 to 2010 to determine the effect of job loss on depression.

In 2006, 1.3% of US participants were unemployed; increasing to 3% in 2010. Rates were similar for European participants, at 1.8% in 2006 and 3.1% in 2010.

During the study period, 719 participants became unemployed. There was a 4.78% increase in depression scores among US participants who experienced job loss vs. a 3.35% increase among European participants. Job loss due to firm closure caused higher depression scores among US participants at an increase of 28.2% vs. a 7.5% increase among European participants.

US participants with previous wealth experienced lower increases of depression scores compared with those with little or no wealth. However, among European participants, wealth did not have a significant interaction with job loss.

“In the [United States], the impact of job loss is significantly stronger for those with little or no wealth than for wealthier individuals and the impact of job loss due to plant closure was stronger than in Europe,” Riumallo-Herl said in a press release. “In contrast, we observed significant but weaker effects of job loss on depressive symptoms in Europe, which were not modified by pre-existing levels of wealth. … The stronger effect of job loss on depression in poor Americans compared with poor Europeans should prompt further research on the potential role of specific social protection programs in buffering the impact of job loss among less wealthy workers and their families.”

Lisa F. Berkman, PhD, of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, wrote that the study calls for policies that would help protect the unemployed.

“Job loss is a profoundly disruptive experience,” she wrote. “As economies become more globalized and job transitions more common, the identification and implementation of policies that enable both societal as well as personal resilience will become increasingly important.”

For more information:

Berkman LF. Int J Epidemiol. 2014;doi:10.1093/ije/dyu110.

Riumallo-Herl C. Int J Epidemiol. 2014;doi:10.1093/ije/dyu048.

Disclosure: See the study for a full list of researchers’ financial disclosures.