Job insecurity may increase anxiety, depression: study

Ann Arbor, MI – Anxiety and depression symptoms are more prevalent among workers with job insecurity, according to a study from the University of Michigan.

As part of a study on the Great Recession’s impact in Detroit, researchers analyzed data on roughly 440 adults in southeast Michigan in 2009-2010. Almost 18 percent said their job was insecure, meaning they thought it was “fairly likely” they would lose their job or be laid off within the next year. Those workers were more than 3 times as likely to rate their health as “fair to poor” than workers who viewed their job as secure, according to a press release from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, which published the study.

Additionally, job-insecure workers were nearly 4 times as likely to report an anxiety attack, and 7 times as likely to report symptoms of depression, the press release stated. Researchers recommended developing interventions for these workers.

The study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.