Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Eur J Health Econ. 2015 Mar;16(2):175-84. doi: 10.1007/s10198-014-0563-y. Epub 2014 Jan 28.
To estimate the impact of (particularly long-term) unemployment on the overall and mental health of the Spanish working-age population and to check whether the effects of unemployment on health have increased or been tempered as a consequence of the economic crisis.
We apply a matching technique to cross-sectional microdata from the Spanish Health Survey for the years 2006 and 2011-2012 to estimate the average treatment effect of unemployment on self-assessed health (SAH) in the last year, mental problems in the last year and on the mental health risk in the short term. We also use a differences-in-differences estimation method between the two periods to check if the impact of unemployment on health depends on the economic context.
Unemployment has a significant negative impact on both SAH and mental health. This impact is particularly high for the long-term unemployed. With respect to the impact on mental health, negative effects significantly worsen with the economic crisis. For the full model, the changes in effects of long-term unemployment on mental problems and mental health risk are, respectively, 0.35 (CI 0.19-0.50) and 0.20 (CI 0.07-0.34).
Anxiety and stress about the future associated with unemployment could have a large impact on individuals' health. It may be necessary to prevent health deterioration in vulnerable groups such as the unemployed, and also to monitor specific health risks that arise in recessions, such as psychological problems.
评估（尤其是长期）失业对西班牙劳动年龄人口整体健康和心理健康的影响，并检查由于经济危机，失业对健康的影响是否增加或减弱。
我们应用匹配技术对 2006 年和 2011-2012 年西班牙健康调查的横截面微观数据进行分析，以估计失业对去年自我评估健康（SAH）、去年心理问题和短期心理健康风险的平均处理效应。我们还使用两个时期之间的差异差异估计方法来检查失业对健康的影响是否取决于经济环境。
失业对 SAH 和心理健康都有显著的负面影响。长期失业者的影响尤其大。就心理健康的影响而言，负面效应随着经济危机的加剧而显著恶化。对于全模型，长期失业对心理问题和心理健康风险的影响变化分别为 0.35（CI 0.19-0.50）和 0.20（CI 0.07-0.34）。
与失业相关的对未来的焦虑和压力可能对个人健康产生重大影响。可能有必要防止失业等弱势群体的健康恶化，同时监测经济衰退期间出现的特定健康风险，如心理问题。
