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Cited by 409Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesEmployment and Welfare StudiesWorkplace Health and Well-being

Long-Term Unemployment and Suicide: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Open access
Milner, Allison, Page, Andrew, LaMontagne, Anthony D.·2013·PLoS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0051333PMC PMC3547020
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Abstract

PURPOSE: There have been a number of reviews on the association+ between unemployment and suicide, but none have investigated how this relationship is influenced by duration of unemployment. METHOD: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of those studies that assessed duration of unemployment as a risk factor for suicide. Studies considered as eligible for inclusion were population-based cohort or case-control designs; population-based ecological designs, or hospital based clinical cohort or case-control designs published in the year 1980 or later. RESULTS: The review identified 16 eligible studies, out of a possible 10,358 articles resulting from a search of four databases: PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus and Proquest. While all 16 studies measured unemployment duration in different ways, a common finding was that longer duration of unemployment was related to greater risk of suicide and suicide attempt. A random effects meta-analysis on a subsample of six cohort studies indicated that the pooled relative risk of suicide in relation to average follow-up time after unemployment was 1.70 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.18). However, results also suggested a possible habituation effect to unemployment over time, with the greatest risk of suicide occurring within five years of unemployment compared to the employed population (RR = 2.50, 95% CI 1.83 to 3.17). Relative risk appeared to decline in studies of those unemployed between 12 and 16 years compared to those currently employed (RR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.33). CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that long-term unemployment is associated with greater incidence of suicide. Results of the meta-analysis suggest that risk is greatest in the first five years, and persists at a lower but elevated level up to 16 years after unemployment. These findings are limited by the paucity of data on this topic.

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  • Loss of work is associated with both physical and mental health problems and economic consequences.

    “Loss of work is associated with both physical and mental health problems [20–22] in addition to economic consequences”

    From Measuring the Effect of the Early assessment Team (MEET) for patients referred to outpatient mental health care: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as [22]

    The Introduction (page not provided) links unemployment to adverse mental health consequences and discusses an association with mortality. It does not establish an association with physical health problems specifically. The citation is attached to the health claim, not the subsequent mention of economic consequences. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [28]Greenland S (1998) Meta-analysis. In: Rothman KJ, Greenland S, editors. Modern epidemiology. 2nd ed. ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven. pp. 643–673

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Authors
Milner, A., Page, A., & LaMontagne, A. D.
Affiliations
  • The University of Melbourne (AU)
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
Corresponding author
Milner, Allison
ORCID
Venue
PLoS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2013-01-16
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
e51333
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0051333
PMC
PMC3547020
OpenAlex
W2085632436
Cited by
407
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 36 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 6
FWCI
3.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Medical Research Council
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (546248)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
Keywords
long-term unemployment, suicide, suicide attempts, unemployment duration, suicide risk factors, habituation effect
MeSH terms
Humans, Risk Factors, Suicide, Suicide, Attempted, Time Factors, Unemployment

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