Adolescent Employment, Mental Health, and Suicidal Behavior: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

Hyerine Shin, Kyung hee Kim, Ji-su Kim and Eunkyung Lee
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Hyerine Shin: Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 06974, Korea
Kyung hee Kim: Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 06974, Korea
Ji-su Kim: Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro Dongjak-Gu, Seoul 06974, Korea
Eunkyung Lee: Department of Nursing, Kyung-in Women’s University, 63 Gyeyangsan-ro, Gyesan-dong, Seoul 06974, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: This study aimed to confirm the relationships between part-time work experience, mental health, and suicidal behavior in adolescents. The impact of part-time work in this population is a controversial topic, perhaps because of the sociocultural background-related inconsistencies in previous results. In this cross-sectional study, which involved a secondary analysis of data from the 11th–13th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Surveys, conducted among 800 middle and high schools by the Korean government, we used propensity score matching analysis to minimize the impact of individual backgrounds on the findings concerning the relationships in question. Overall, part-time experience was significantly related to mental health problems and suicidal behavior even after eliminating background differences. Adolescents with part-time work experience had higher overall stress levels (odds ratio = 1.148; 95% confidence interval = 1.094, 1.205) than those without such experience, and more suicidal thoughts (odds ratio = 1.355; 95% confidence interval = 1.266, 1.450), suicide planning (odds ratio = 1.717; 95% confidence interval = 1.527, 1.929), and suicide attempts (odds ratio = 1.852; 95% confidence interval = 1.595, 2.151). Thus, it is important to pay increased attention to mental health and suicide-related issues in South Korean adolescents with part-time jobs.

Keywords: part-time work; mental health; suicidal behavior; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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