AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate whether temporary employment was related to non-optimal self-rated health and psychological distress at age 42 after adjustment for the same indicators at age 30, and to analyze the effects of job insecurity, low cash margin and high job strain on this relationship.
METHODS: A subcohort of the Northern Swedish Cohort that was employed at the 2007 follow-up survey (n = 907, response rate of 94%) was analyzed using data from 1995 and 2007 questionnaires.
RESULTS: Temporary employees had a higher risk of both non-optimal self-rated health and psychological distress. After adjustment for non-optimal self-rated health at age 30 and psychological distress at age 30 as well as for sociodemographic variables, the odds ratios decreased but remained significant. However, after adjustment for job insecurity, high job strain and low cash margin the odds ratio dropped for non-optimal self-rated health but remained significant for psychological distress.
CONCLUSIONS: Temporary employment may have adverse effects on self-rated health and psychological health after adjustment for previous health status and sociodemographic variables. Our findings indicate that low cash margin and job insecurity may partially mediate the association between temporary employment and health status.
AIMS: Research often fails to ascertain whether men and women are equally hit by the health consequences of unemployment. The aim of this study was to analyze whether men's self-reported health and health behavior were hit more by unemployment than women's in a follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort.
METHODS: A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a middle-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1,006) participated during the whole period. A sample was made of participants in the labor force and living in Sweden (n = 916). Register data were used to assess the length of unemployment from age 40 to 42, while questionnaire data were used for the other variables.
RESULTS: In multivariate logistic regression analyses significant relations between unemployment and mental health/smoking were found among both women and men, even after control for unemployment at the time of the investigation and indicators of health-related selection. Significant relations between unemployment and alcohol consumption were found among women, while few visits to a dentist was significant among men.
CONCLUSIONS: Men are not hit more by the health consequences of unemployment in a Swedish context, with a high participation rate of women in the labor market. The public health relevance is that the study indicates the need to take gendered contexts into account in public health research.
