Aransiola Temidayo James, Justus Marcelo
Institute of Economics, University of Campinas - Sao Paulo, Brazil,
J Ment Health Policy Econ. 2018 Jun 1;21(2):49-58.
Child labor has been usually claimed to produce negative effects on health. However, most of the studies that investigated this hypothesis examined only its impact on child laborers' physical health. This study formulates the hypothesis that child labor may have an impact on the mental health of these individuals.
The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of child laborers to develop symptoms of depression in adulthood and to examine the role of physical and mental health of the family members on their risk of developing depression.
We used the 2008 National Household Sample Survey (PNAD, Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios) and its special supplements to estimate probit models.
Individuals who started working between the age group of 15-17 have about 0.6 percentage points lesser risk of developing depression as compared to those who started working between the age group of 10-14. Further reduction of this risk was observed for the age groups of 18-19 and 20-24. No statistical evidence was found regarding older age groups. Individuals with a mother with depression have about 3.2 percentage points higher risk of presenting symptoms of depression. Chronic physical illness in mothers increases the risk of depression in child laborers by 0.3 percentage points.
Our study supports the hypothesis that work during childhood increases the risk of developing depression in adulthood. Family mental health status and chronic physical illness play a substantial role in the risk that child laborers have to develop depression.
The results of the study indicate the need of basic mental health services aimed to the assessment and care for child laborers who withdraw from work, with the aim of reducing the risk of depression in adulthood. The results underline also the importance of mental health assessment and care for those children with a family member with depression or chronic physical illness.
人们通常认为童工对健康会产生负面影响。然而，大多数研究这一假设的研究仅考察了其对童工身体健康的影响。本研究提出假设，即童工可能会对这些人的心理健康产生影响。
本研究旨在调查童工在成年后患抑郁症症状的风险，并考察家庭成员的身心健康对其患抑郁症风险的作用。
我们使用了2008年全国家庭抽样调查（PNAD，Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios）及其特别补充调查来估计概率单位模型。
与10至14岁开始工作的人相比，15至17岁开始工作的人患抑郁症的风险低约0.6个百分点。在18至19岁和20至24岁年龄组中，这种风险进一步降低。未发现关于年龄较大组的统计证据。母亲患有抑郁症的个体出现抑郁症症状的风险高约3.2个百分点。母亲患有慢性身体疾病会使童工患抑郁症的风险增加0.3个百分点。
我们的研究支持这一假设，即童年时期工作会增加成年后患抑郁症的风险。家庭心理健康状况和慢性身体疾病在童工患抑郁症的风险中起着重要作用。
研究结果表明需要提供基本心理健康服务，旨在对退出工作的童工进行评估和护理，以降低成年后患抑郁症的风险。研究结果还强调了对有抑郁症或慢性身体疾病家庭成员的儿童进行心理健康评估和护理的重要性。
