Associations Between US High School Student and Parental Job Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Adverse Mental Health Outcomes, Short Sleep, and Abuse by a Household Adult

Details

• Journal Article:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Personal Author:
  Shockey, Taylor M. ; Silver, Sharon R. ; Mpofu, Jonetta J.
• Description:
  Background: Parental job loss has been associated with adverse mental health outcomes and child abuse. This study examines associations between student and parental/household adult (referred to as "parent" for brevity) job loss and these outcomes among US high school students during a period of high job loss-early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) data from January to June 2021 were analyzed to obtain prevalence and adjusted prevalence ratios for select adverse mental health outcomes, short sleep, and emotional and physical abuse by a parent associated with student and parental employment status before and during the pandemic. The sample was composed of 7705 US high school students. Results: Over half of students (55.1%, 95% CI: 52.4%-57.8%) reported emotional abuse by a parent. Parental and student job loss were associated with adverse mental health outcomes and emotional abuse by a parent. However, only parental job loss was associated with physical abuse by a parent, which was reported by 15.3% of students (95% CI: 13.3-17.3). Students who lost a job during the pandemic reported a high prevalence of persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness (54.9%; 95% CI: 48.5-61.3) and poor mental health during the past 30 days (43.7%; 95% CI: 37.6-49.8). Discussion: The high levels of adverse mental health outcomes and child abuse associated with parental and student job loss highlight the need for better supports in this area. Identification of the causes and potential interventions related to child maltreatment in the context of household economic stress could help reduce the burden of negative outcomes.
• Subjects:
  COVID-19 Mental Health Occupational Health Safety School
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Adolescent Mental Health; Child Abuse; COVID-19 Pandemic; Employment Status; Job Loss; Short Sleep COVID-19; Mental Health; Adolescents; Abuse; Sleep; Stress; Families; Employment Status; Behavior;
• Source:
  Am J Ind Med 2025 Sep; 68(9):806-816
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; Georgia ; Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Atlanta Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  11 pdf pages
• Volume:
  68
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071367
• Contact Point Address:
  Taylor M. Shockey, Division of Field Studies and Engineering, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• Email:
  tshockey@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:793290b413c0fd928754dec64194b12a1d188d84c7e1cd0993ed1560ecb74eaed63077d385bb9aed7992da3db0c5b73d1f8b0a6dafbf99590e8f4e8324a81518
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258842/cdc_258842_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 231.80 KB ]