Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, 115 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06355, Republic of Korea.
Center for Clinical Epidemiology, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Oct 4;24(1):2708. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20219-z.
Rising digitalization and individualism in the workplace after the COVID-19 pandemic have increased loneliness and related problems in the working-age population. The potential effects of various forms of loneliness on suicidal ideation may differ depending on employment status.
This is a cross-sectional study based on a national survey of mental health in the general Korean population. We classified occupations as "employed," "self-employed," or "unemployed." Loneliness was assessed using the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which measures both qualitative and quantitative aspects of loneliness. Suicidal ideation was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9.
A total of 1770 participants aged 30-65 years (mean age: 47.7 years) were included. The mean loneliness score was 43.9 (SD = 10.4), and 28% of the participants experienced a high level of loneliness. The prevalence ratio for suicidal ideation in the group with high levels of loneliness was 3.06 (95% CI 2.57, 3.63) compared to the group with low levels of loneliness. In our subgroup analysis, we consistently observed an association between loneliness and suicidal ideation across the employed group; however, the employed was more related with qualitative loneliness, the self-employed and the unemployed were more related with quantitative loneliness.
Loneliness was associated with suicidal ideation. According to employment status, the associations were consistent, but there were interactions between type of loneliness and employment status. These findings suggest that interventions to reduce loneliness and prevent suicidal ideation should be tailored to specific employment groups, focusing on qualitative aspects for employed individuals and quantitative aspects for self-employed and unemployed individuals.
新冠疫情后，职场数字化和个人主义的兴起增加了工作年龄段人群的孤独感和相关问题。各种形式的孤独感对自杀意念的潜在影响可能因就业状况而异。
这是一项基于韩国一般人群心理健康全国调查的横断面研究。我们将职业分为“就业”、“自营职业”和“失业”。使用 UCLA 孤独量表评估孤独感，该量表衡量孤独感的定性和定量方面。使用患者健康问卷-9 评估自杀意念。
共纳入 1770 名 30-65 岁（平均年龄：47.7 岁）参与者。平均孤独感评分为 43.9（SD=10.4），28%的参与者存在高水平孤独感。与低水平孤独感组相比，高水平孤独感组自杀意念的患病率比为 3.06（95%CI 2.57，3.63）。在我们的亚组分析中，我们一致观察到孤独感与自杀意念之间存在关联，无论是在就业组还是在非就业组；然而，孤独感与就业的关联主要体现在定性孤独感方面，与自营职业和失业的关联主要体现在定量孤独感方面。
孤独感与自杀意念相关。根据就业状况，这种关联是一致的，但孤独感的类型与就业状况之间存在相互作用。这些发现表明，为减少孤独感和预防自杀意念而进行的干预措施应针对特定的就业群体进行定制，重点关注就业人群的定性方面，以及自营职业和失业人群的定量方面。
