Study Finds Youth with Mental Health Problems Have Difficulty Maintaining a Job as an Adult
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Benjamin Amick, Ph.D., associate dean of research for UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, is part of a research team conducting a project that states that young people with mental health problems are often deficient of the ability to keep working. when they become adults.
| Young people with mental health problems often lack the ability to continue a job when they become adults, according to researchers who conducted a study of 1,200 people from the ages of 11 to 29. with mental health issues.
The study is the first of its kind to identify mental health problems in childhood and adolescents and a valid measure of occupational function.
The research team – based in the Netherlands and including Benjamin Amick, Ph.D., associate dean of research for UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health – assessed people aged 11, 13 1 /2, and 16 as a youth. . Meanwhile, individuals aged 19, 22, 26 and 29 were followed by adults.
Lead author, Samira de Groot commented, “It is interesting to follow the same group of children into adulthood because their mental health does not start once they start working. Our report highlights the importance of addressing the problem. childhood and adolescence mental health problems by showing that young adults bring their history of mental health problems to work.
Mental health for young people is a growing problem in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic nationally and internationally. “Mental health is a big issue in the U.S.,” Amick said. “The results from this report show why we need to address childhood mental health problems as an economic issue. From a life course perspective, what happens in childhood affects our economy and is impacted. in our ability to retain a large, well-functioning workforce.Arkansas needs to focus on childhood and youth mental health as a driver of the economy.
The project, which focuses on 18 years worth of data, also reveals that children and adolescents with mental health problems often struggle academically. Finally, a poor academic foundation can negatively affect a person’s job opportunities, as well as whether they work and are able to live as a productive member of society.
“If we want to solve mental health problems, we need to start by understanding why working with children with issues is so important,” Amick said.
The information used for the project was from the TRracking Adolescents ’Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). The TRAILS program is an ongoing, multidisciplinary initiative that focuses on the psychological, social and physical development of adolescents and young adults.
Amick has spent decades studying various aspects of how mental health issues affect society. He has regularly collaborated with research groups in the Netherlands for the past 15 years.
For this report – where is Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal published in its February 2022 issue – the team recommends that policymakers emphasize tracking mental health problems from childhood to adulthood to help create a more inclusive labor market.
The team also suggested that policymakers provide better services for the treatment of mental illnesses for young workers and children.
“Mental health is something we can’t do. It affects workers,” said Amick, who developed the scale of role -playing in the work used in the project. “The stigma is not good for adults, but worse for children. We will not allow these issues to go on and converge.
