Why does youth unemployment lead to scarring of depressive symptoms in adulthood? The importance of early adulthood drinking

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
• Main Authors: HAMMARSTRÖM, ANNE, BEAN, CHRISTOPHER, PINGEL, RONNIE, JANLERT, URBAN, WESTERLUND, HUGO, ÖSTERGREN, PER OLOF, VIRTANEN, PEKKA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2023
• Subjects: Public Health; Global Health; Social Medicine and Epidemiology; alcohol drinking; depressive symptoms; life-course epidemiology; scarring; Youth unemployment; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/97608ea0-9fb0-486e-8fa0-685d8f91e352; https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948231208472

Aim: The aim of the paper is to analyse if alcohol consumption could explain the scarring effect of youth unemployment on later depressive symptoms. Methods: The analyses are based on the 24-year follow-up of school leavers in a municipality in Northern Sweden (the Northern Swedish Cohort). Four-way decomposition analyses were performed to analyse if alcohol use at age 30 years could mediate and/or moderate the effect of youth unemployment (ages 18/21 years) on depressive symptoms in later adulthood (age 43 years). Results: Excessive alcohol use at early adulthood (age 30 years) mediates 18% of the scarring effect of youth unemployment on depressive symptoms in later adulthood. The scarring effect was seen among both those with and without excessive alcohol use. Conclusions: Youth unemployment leads to poor mental health later in life and part of these relations are explained by excessive alcohol consumption in early adulthood. Policy interventions should target the prevention of youth unemployment for reaching a lower alcohol consumption and better mental health.