Associations among Employment Status, Health Behaviors, and Mental Health in a Representative Sample of South Koreans

Se Jin Park, Soo Yeon Kim, Eun-Sun Lee and Subin Park
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Se Jin Park: Department of Research Planning, Mental Health Research Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul 04933, Korea
Soo Yeon Kim: Department of Research Planning, Mental Health Research Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul 04933, Korea
Eun-Sun Lee: Department of Research Planning, Mental Health Research Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul 04933, Korea
Subin Park: Department of Research Planning, Mental Health Research Institute, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul 04933, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to compare the health behaviors, general health, and mental health of South Korean employees according to their employment status, and to examine how these associations vary across genders using the latest Korean National Examination Health and Nutrition Survey data. Logistic regression analyses were performed using employment status—permanent job, temporary job, and unemployed—as predictor variables and health-related variables as the outcome variables. Results indicated that temporary workers and the unemployed have higher odds of poor mental health regardless of gender. On the other hand, only male permanent workers were found to have a higher risk of problematic drinking compared to precarious workers and the unemployed. Meanwhile, only women showed a higher risk of current smoking in the temporary job and unemployed groups compared with permanent employees. Regarding general health, women, not men, in the temporary job group reported poorer general health (i.e., low health-related quality of life and higher self-perceived poor health) than those in other groups. These findings suggest that the development and implementation of intervention services, as well as organizational actions, need to consider differential impacts of unfavorable employment status on health issues according to gender.

Keywords: employment status; health behavior; general health; mental health (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 (4)

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