Psychiatric disorders and labour force activity
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-05-2014-0018 |
| Published date | 09 March 2015 |
| Pages | 13-27 |
| Date | 09 March 2015 |
| Author | Annika Jonsdottir,Geoffrey Waghorn |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health |
Psychiatric disorders and labour
force activity
Annika Jonsdottir and Geoffrey Waghorn
Annika Jonsdottir is a
Research Officer, based at
Social Inclusion and Recovery
Research, The Queensland
Centre for Mental Health
Research (QCMHR), Brisbane,
Australia.
Dr Geoffrey Waghorn is a
Department Head, based at
Social Inclusion and Recovery
Research, The Queensland
Centre for Mental Health
Research (QCMHR), Brisbane,
Australia and The School of
Medicine, the University of
Queensland, Brisbane,
and the Griffith Health Institute,
Griffith University, Australia.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and review the range and quality of international
epidemiological and observational studies reporting impacts of psychiatric disorders on labour force activity.
This information is needed to explore the relative priority of different diagnostic groups for more intensive
forms of vocational rehabilitation.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors provide an overview of the current literature. A systematic
review of papers measuring labour force variables and psychiatric disorders across a range of countries is
conducted. These results are compared to OECD background unemployment rates during the same
period. The results for each diagnostic category included are aggregated and compared to the other
diagnostic categories.
Findings – The proportions of people employed decreased with the more severe disorder categories,
indicating that severe psychiatric illnesses are contributing to employment struggles for people with these
illnesses, across countries.
Research limitations/implications – This review is exploratory and shows that there is little consistency in
reporting of labour force variables. Future research should endeavour to utilise internationally agreed
definitions of labour force activity.
Practical implications – This conclusion is relevant to matching community residents with psychiatric
disorders to the more intensive and costly forms of vocational rehabilitation.
Originality/value – To our knowledge, no previous review has examined diagnostic categories of
psychiatric disorders by labour force activity internationally while taking into account background
unemployment. This review found an employment gradient related to severity of diagnostic category that will
be of interest to clinicians and policy makers.
Keywords Vocational rehabilitation, Systematic review,Epidemiological studies, Labour force activity,
Psychiatric disorders, Diagnostic groups
Paper type General review
Introduction
It is accepted that many psychiatric disorders are associated with reduced labour force
participation and reduced employment (Alonso et al., 2004; Andrews and Slade, 2002; Australian
Government, 2009a, b; Calabrese et al., 2004; Crino et al., 2005). Yetepi demiologically it remains
unclear whether there is a consistent and stable relationship across developed countries,
independently of different labour markets. In this paper, we hypothesise a negative relationship
between the severity of diagnostic category and current employment. This issue is important
because not being employed accounts for significant lost productivity, exacerbated by the high
costs of social welfare income support systems (McDaid et al., 2007). Any increase in the
proportion of people withserious mental illnesses in employment would decrease this burden on
taxpayers as well as improving the lives of people currently relying on welfare. Both the individual
and society can benefit from the greater labour force participation and employment of people
with psychiatric disorders (McDaid et al., 2007).
Received 23 May 2014
Revised 26 September 2014
29 November 2014
Accepted 1 December 2014
On behalf of all authors, the
corresponding author states that
there is no conflict of interest and
that all funding for the project came
from the Queensland Centre for
Mental Health Research (QCMHR).
DOI 10.1108/MHRJ-05-2014-0018 VOL. 20 NO. 1 2015, pp. 13-27, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1361-9322
j
MENTAL HEALTH REVIEW JOURNAL
j
PAGE 13
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