Überblick
Introduction: "(...) Therefore, I try to answer the following questions in the present meta-analysis: How strong is the difference between unemployed and employed persons with regard to mental health? Does unemployment primarily lead to depression and low self esteem or does it also cause other forms of distress such as anxiety or psychosomatic symptoms? Do important demographic variables such as age, gender, social status, and marital status act as moderators of the negative mental health effect of unemployment? Are there differences between countries and what characteristics distinguish countries where unemployment is more deleterious from countries where it is less deleterious? Are unemployed persons? elevated distress levels really caused by unemployment or are other explanations more relevant, for example selection effects (= persons with impaired mental health lose their jobs earlier and need more time to find new jobs than more healthy persons)? How valid are the meta-analytic findings? Is it possible to identify biases, particularly a publication bias, that might have distorted the results? (...)"