650469

research-article2016
ISP0010.1177/0020764016650469International Journal of Social PsychiatryFrasquilho et al.

E CAMDEN SCHIZOPH

Original Article

International Journal of

Unemployment as a source of mental Social Psychiatry

1­–10
© The Author(s) 2016
distress to individuals and their family: Reprints and permissions:
[Link]/[Link]

Unemployed parents’ perceptions during DOI: 10.1177/0020764016650469

[Link]

the economic recession

Diana Frasquilho1,2, Margarida Gaspar de Matos2,3,4,

Teresa Santos2, Tânia Gaspar4,5 and JM Caldas de Almeida6

Abstract
Background: Due to the economic recession, several people in Europe became unemployed. This situation may risk
their mental health.
Aim: This study explored parents’ perceptions about their unemployment’s effects in daily life during the recession.
Methods: A total of 59 unemployed parents (40.7% fathers and 59.3% mothers), ageing 44.4 years (±6.2), answer a
question on how the unemployment affected their family lives. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data.
Results: The findings suggest that unemployment is a source of adult and youth mental distress and of economic
hardship and changes in family relations.
Conclusion: Support to unemployed individuals and their families could benefit from these insights when granting the
needed financial and socioemotional assistance.

Keywords
Economic recession, family relations, mental health, socioeconomic factors, thematic analysis, unemployment

Background
The European economic recession created a labour market life (Jahoda, 1982). These findings helped to redefine
crisis raising the rates of unemployment in the Euro area to research and gave substance to the argument that without
record levels (Eurostat, 2015) affecting mostly the work, people face higher risks of economic and social dep-
Southern European countries where unemployment rates rivation, which is associated with poorer health and
largely increased. For instance, in Portugal, the context of well-being (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, & Kinicki, 2005;
this study, the unemployment rates increased from 9% Paul & Moser, 2009; Warr, 1987).
(before the crisis) up to 17% during the crisis in 2013.
Such rates were, at that time, only preceded by Greece 1Nova Medical School and Center for Malaria & Tropical Diseases
(27%) and Spain (26%) (Eurostat, 2013). (CMDT)/Institute of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (IHMT),
Literature suggests that, during the economic recession Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
2William James Research Center, Instituto Superior de Psicologia
and ensuing labour market crisis, unemployed people have
Aplicada (ISPA), Lisbon, Portugal
a particularly significant risk of the development of mental 3Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
health problems (Frasquilho et al., 2016). In fact, unemploy- 4Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), University of Lisbon, Lisbon,

ment research supports that losing a job is a highly stressful Portugal

5Institute of Psychology and Educational Sciences Lusíada University,
life event, associated with negative mental health outcomes
Lisbon, Portugal
(Miller & Rahe, 1997; Paul & Moser, 2009). Going as far 6Department of Mental Health, Nova Medical School, Universidade
back as the 30s, to the renowned Marienthal study that doc- Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
umented the everyday life and health changes of factory
Corresponding author:
employees who had lost their job (Jahoda, Lazarsfeld, &
Diana Frasquilho, Aventura Social, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana,
Zeisel, 1933), unemployment was found not only to lead to da Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada da Costa 1495-688 Cruz-Quebrada,
poverty but also to hopelessness, apathy, diminished activ- Lisboa, Portugal.
ity, disruptive sense of time and overall breakdown of social Email: [Link]@[Link]

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2 International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Nonetheless, an unemployed population is heterogene- Thus, this study aimed to provide essential information
ous, and perceptions towards an unemployment situation about the mental well-being of a sample of unemployed
may differ with subgroups of individuals (McKee-Ryan parents and their experience of unemployment in terms of
et al., 2005; Paul & Moser, 2009). Unemployed parents, perceived changes in families’ day-to-day life and young
for instance, may face increased risk. There is evidence people’s well-being. Such information is important not
pinpointing parental unemployment’s associations with only to improve research on the area of unemployment
higher levels of psychological distress and financial depri- effects but also because it is necessary to acknowledge
vation (Baxter, Gray, Hand, & Hayes, 2012; Paul & what are the resources (economic, social etc.) needed to
Batinic, 2010). improve the lives of unemployed people and their family
Since unemployment is such a complex situation, there members.
is a possibility of a chain reaction whereby either the indi-
vidual who loses the job and/or his or her family suffer the
effects. In light of the evidence from other studies, parental Methods
unemployment has been found to be associated with Procedure and participants
adverse youth well-being with decreased cognitive and
social–emotional outcomes (Bacikova-Sleskova, Geckova, This study was conducted in conjunction with a cross-sec-
van Dijk, Groothoff, & Reijneveld, 2011; Baxter et al., tional study directed to unemployment benefit claimants
2012; Borges, Matos, & Diniz, 2011; Magklara et al., from Lisbon, Portugal (Frasquilho et al., 2015). Participants
2010; Siponen, Ahonen, Savolainen, & Hameen-Anttila, were unemployed adults from Lisbon, registered at the Job
2011; Varga, Piko, & Fitzpatrick, 2014). The family stress Centre and received state unemployment benefits who had
model offers the theoretical base to explain how parental adolescent children aged between 10 and 19 years. All par-
unemployment effects on distress and youth mental well- ticipants answered a self-administered questionnaire that
being are associated with changes in economic hardship was handed to people who voluntarily agreed to respond
and pressure and stress on family relations (Conger & during their biweekly presentation at their local civil par-
Elder, 1994). One of the pathways involved in the associa- ish as part of the requirements to continue receiving state
tion between parental unemployment and adverse youth unemployment benefit. Recruitment and data collection
well-being outcomes may exist in the effect of unemploy- occurred in five civil parishes of Lisbon that were recom-
ment-related stress on parents. Several studies have dem- mended to the researchers by the Lisbon City Council as
onstrated that parental distress correlates with children they contained offices that support unemployed people
decreased well-being and compromised social, emotional and thus gave the possibility of increasing the recruitment
and behavioural development (Amrock & Weitzman, of unemployed participants. A total of 112 unemployed
2014; Dougherty, Tolep, Smith, & Rose, 2013; Manning & parents answered the survey. However, 53 participants of
Gregoire, 2009; Mattejat & Remschmidt, 2008; Reising these 112 did not answer the open question regarding the
et al., 2013; Weissman et al., 2006). Using a life-course unemployment experience, resulting in a total of 59 par-
perspective, living in an unemployed household and in ticipants (40.7% fathers and 59.3% mothers), ageing
economic deprivation may cumulatively affect adolescents 44.4 years (±6.2), who were included in this study
and their future health (Sawyer et al., 2012). (response rate of 53%)
Family interaction and support may also influence the
association between parental unemployment and adverse
Measures
youth well-being outcomes, by either strengthening or weak-
ening the negative effects of unemployment (Christoffersen, Participants answered an open question regarding their
2000; Ström, 2003). Southern European countries (including perception of the changes that occurred in terms of family
Portugal) have been characterized by having strong family life as a result of their unemployment; ‘Please use the
ties (Reher, 1998); thus, it is expected that family relations space provided to elaborate on any changes to your family
exert influence upon the effects of the unemployment situa- life due to the unemployment situation or to write down
tion. In fact, evidence from Portugal has shown that strong other comments’.
family relationships seem to moderate the link between Sociodemographic data were also obtained to contex-
parental distress and youth well-being during unemployment tualize this segment of the open-ended question answers:
(Frasquilho et al., 2015). age, gender, education level (secondary level and supe-
Notwithstanding the above-mentioned literature impor- rior education), number of unemployment spells (first
tant arguments on the effects of unemployment to individ- unemployment experience or a repeated experience) and
uals’ well-being and that of their families, they do not unemployment duration (short-term unemployment was
allow deeper insights on subjective experiences within the defined as being unemployed for less than a year and
populations. Qualitative analysis allows us to better under- long-term unemployment for longer than 1 year). For this
stand how unemployment actually changes family life. study, participants were also divided into three groups by

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Frasquilho et al. 3

Figure 1.  Coding tree.

partnership: single, partnered with employed partner and were initially identified as themes. These themes were
partnered with unemployed partner. microanalysed, and categories were created. These catego-
In addition, the participants completed the General ries were then analysed by three experts based on the con-
Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) as part of their base- structs present on the family stress model and concurrent
line questionnaire (Goldberg, 1992). The GHQ-12 is a background literature. The three experts checked if the cat-
widely used and recommended screening instrument for egories worked and independently coded the written
psychological distress in occupational settings and unem- answers according to them using Statistical Package for
ployment research (Romppel, Braehler, Roth, & Glaesmer, Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22.0. Throughout the anal-
2012; Warr, 1987) and has been adapted and validated for ysis, the three experts discussed on the interpretation of the
the Portuguese population (Laranjeira, 2008). Participants data, and the analysis continued until a 100% agreement
rate from 0 to 3 (better than usual/same as usual/less than between the experts was obtained in terms of the categoriza-
usual/much less than usual) their answer to 12 items: (1) tion (saturation point). Figure 1 illustrates the coding tree.
being able to concentrate on whatever you are doing, (2)
lost much sleep over worry, (3) felt constantly under strain
and (4) been losing self-confidence in yourself. Higher
Ethics
scores indicate higher levels of psychological distress. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the
Using this scale, and the mean GHQ-12 score (5.94 ± 4.04) Nova Medical School of Lisbon. Moreover, the Lisbon
for the population of respondents as the cut-off point as City Council and the five civil parishes gave approval for
suggested by the authors (Goldberg et al., 1998), partici- the questionnaire, and participants gave written informed
pants were identified as having low distress (GHQ-12 consent.
score, 0–6) and high stress (GHQ-12 score, 7–12).
Results
Data analysis Participants’ characteristics are presented in Table 1. Most
Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations and per- of the participants have attained up to secondary level of
centages) were calculated for demographic variables and education (64.4%), were partnered and the partner was
the psychological distress variable. The answers to the open employed (54.2%), it was the first experience of unem-
question were analysed using thematic content analysis ployment (65.5%), and mostly for less than 1 year (60.3%).
(Braun & Clarke, 2006). The researchers read and re-read More than half of the participants (52.5%) reported to be
the written answers, and prominent patterns and concepts experiencing elevated psychological distress.

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4 International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Table 1.  Characteristics of the study population. health), children’s education costs and family leisure
activities:
Variables % (N)
Gender Difficulties in paying the house rent and expenses. (Father,
 Male 40.7 (24) 42 years, 13-year boy, high stress, single)
 Female 59.3 (35)
Age (years) I limit myself to survive. There is lack food (a few days),
  ⩽40 30.5 (18) clothes, and access to medical doctors. Everything is lacking.
  ⩾41 69.5 (41) (Mother, 34 years, low stress, employed partner, 17-year boy)
Level of education
  Secondary level 64.4 (38) Stricter control of purchases (groceries and clothing). We do
  Superior education 35.6 (21) not go out as much and we tend to stay at home. We had to
Family type reduce school spending. (Father, 49 years, 19-year girl, high
 Single 30.5 (18) stress, partner employed)
  Employed partner 54.2 (32)
  Unemployed partner 15.3 (9) The inability to financially support the education of my
Unemployment spell daughter. (Father, 47 years, high stress, partner employed,
  First time 65.5 (38) 15-year girl)
 Repeated 34.5 (20)
Unemployment duration (years) Cut back on family leisure activities (holidays, going out
 < 1 60.3 (35) and dining at restaurants):
  ⩾ 1 39.7 (23) ‘After being unemployed, we stopped being able to
Psychological stress (GHQ-12)
afford leisure activities such as going to the cinema, shop-
  Low distress 47.5 (28)
ping, weekends off, etc …’ (Mother, 40 years, low stress,
  High distress 52.5 (31)
single, 14-year girl)
  M ± SD ‘Our quality of life has decreased greatly. We hardly go
out at weekends and no longer eat out … all we do is talk
Adults’ age 44.4 ± 6.2
Adolescents’ age 14.8 ± 2.9
about the crisis’ (Mother, 40 years, high stress, 16-year
girl, partner employed).
GHQ-12: General Health Questionnaire-12; SD: standard deviation. There was also an example of a woman that reported
she had to go back to live with her parents:
Subjective experiences about the family life The unemployment situation forced me to leave the house. I
changes resultant of the unemployment situation had to move with my daughters to their grandparents’ house.
The life I had is ruined and I have no resources to get it back.
The following categories derived from the thematic con- (Mother, 40 years, 14-year girl, high stress, single)
tent analysis and were theoretically based on the family
stress model (Conger & Elder, 1994): (1) unemployment
as a source of economic hardship and pressure, (2) unem- Unemployment as a source of change in family relations. Par-
ployment as a source of change in family relations, (3) ticipants described, with varying influence, unemploy-
unemployment as a source of distress and (4) unemploy- ment as a factor that changed family relations (Table 3).
ment as a source of low youth well-being. Family relations were mentioned as negatively affected
(more friction, conflicts and harsher parenting). For
Unemployment as a source of economic hardship and pres- instance, a woman reported that ‘In a house where there is
sure.  The participants mentioned feeling financially pres- no “bread” all argue and no one is right’ (Mother, 52 years,
sured, having difficulty making ends meet (see Table 2): low stress, single, 18-year girl). This is a Portuguese say-
ing that illustrates that when essential needs are not met
We had to reorganize our life and adjust to a lower level of (like food), people get angry with each other and argue
income. (Mother, 47 years, low stress, partner employed, about many petty things. Other examples of negative
12-year boy) changes were:

The unemployment has brought us a hard time paying our ‘The mood changes are a constant with respect to the couple.
day-to-day expenses. (Mother, 40 years, low stress, partner I am more often with a bad temper.’ (Father, 44 years, low
employed, 14-year boy) stress, unemployed partner, 14-year girl)

The economic pressure and hardship varied a lot from ‘There is less dialogue and more apprehension.’ (Mother,
having to cut down on essential needs (house, food and 42 years, high stress, partner employed, 16-year girl)

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Frasquilho et al. 5

Table 2.  Perceptions of unemployment as a source of economic hardship and pressure (n = 27).

Financially ‘Difficulties in paying the house rent and expenses’. (Father, 42 years, 13-year boy, high stress, single)
pressured, ‘I limit myself to survive. There is lack food (a few days), clothes, and access to medical doctors. Everything is
having difficulty lacking’. (Mother, 34 years, 17-year boy, low stress, employed partner)
making ends ‘The unemployment has brought us a hard time paying our day-to-day expenses’. (Mother, 40 years, 14-year
meet boy, low stress, partner employed)
‘We had to reorganize our life and adjust to a lower level of income’. (Mother, 47 years, low stress, partner
employed, 12-year boy)
‘It (unemployment) changed our life negatively … in a material sense’. (Father, 50 years, high stress, 18-year girl,
partner employed)
‘It affected us mainly financially’. (Mother, 43 years, 19-year girl, low stress, partner unemployed)
‘The financial spending cut in our way of living has changed our everyday life’. (Mother, 41 years, 16-year girl,
low stress, partner employed)
‘The unemployment affected us financially … it is scary’. (Mother, 38 years, 16-year girl, low stress, employed
partner)
‘I cannot give my son everything I gave him before’. (Mother, 35 years, 12-year boy, high stress, employed
partner)
‘I have no way of giving to my children what they need’. (Mother, 47 years, 10-year girl, low stress, single)
‘The unemployment situation forced me to leave the house. I had to move my daughters to their grandparents’
house. The life I had is ruined and I have no resources to get it back’. (Mother, 40 years, 14-year girl, high
stress, single)
‘The main problem is in economic terms’. (Mother, 52 years, 18-year girl, high stress, partner employed)
‘We had to make adjustments to our monthly expenses and eliminate some fixed costs such as insurances,
savings, etc’. (Mother, 45 years, 18-year girl, low stress, partner employed)
Cut back on ‘After being unemployed, we stopped being able to afford leisure activities such as going to the cinema,
educational and shopping, weekends off, etc’. (Mother, 40 years, 14-year girl, low stress, single)
family leisure ‘Stricter control of purchases (groceries and clothing). We do not go out as much and we tend to stay at home.
activities We had to reduce school spending’. (Father, 49 years, 19-year girl, high stress, partner employed)
‘Lack of access to some things that previously existed. Change son from a private school to a public school’.
(Father, 45 years, 15-year boy, low stress, single)
‘The inability to financially support the education of my daughter’. (Father, 47 years, high stress, partner
employed, 15-year girl)
‘Our quality of life has decreased greatly. We hardly go out at weekends and no longer eat out … all we do is
talk about the crisis’. (Mother, 40 years, high stress, 16-year girl, partner employed)
‘We had to save a little more. We don’t go out much nor shop’. (Father 42 years, high stress, girl, 11 years,
partner employed)
‘We changed the food habits, the leisure activities and clothing purchases’. (Father, 45 years, low stress, 18-year
boy, single)
‘I cannot longer provide her as many activities or things as before’. (Mother, 36 years, girl, high stress, single)
‘I feel great financial pressure going out or going on holidays’. (Father, 60 years, 18-year boy, low stress, partner
employed)
‘Changes in family life were felt mainly at the level of cutting treats and leisure’. (Father, 60 years, 19-year girl,
low stress, single)
‘In general we had to cut in various family outings’. (Mother, 30 years, 13-year boy, low stress, unemployed
partner)
‘Economically incapable of taking family vacations’. (Father, 38 years, 10-year girl, low stress, employed partner)
‘Instability … The money is not enough for the most pressing needs’. (Father, 47 years, 12-year boy, high stress,
unemployed partner)
‘We go out a lot less. A future looks heavy’. (Mother, 49 years, 16-year girl, high stress, partner employed)

‘The situation implied friction between us.’ (Father and ‘It brought us further closer together. There are things far
daughter). (Father, 47 years, high stress, girl) worse and people in far worse situations than ours. We always
have to think positively, despite knowing that my situation is
However, positive changes (more proximity and support) not pleasing.’ (Mother, 45 years, low stress, partner employed,
were also reported: 17-year boy)

‘The situation changed for the better, because we are more Unemployment as a source of distress.  Participants unani-
united as a family.’ (Mother, 43 years, low stress, partner mously reported unemployment as a source of psychologi-
employed, 12-year girl) cal distress and of low well-being (Table 4). The emotions

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6 International Journal of Social Psychiatry

Table 3.  Perceptions of unemployment as a source of change in family relations (n = 19).

Positive ‘The situation changed for the better, because we are more united as a family’. (Mother, 43 years, low stress, partner
changes employed, 12-year girl)
‘It brought us further closer together. There are things far worse and people in far worse situations than ours. We
always have to think positively, despite knowing that my situation is not pleasing’. (Mother, 45 years, low stress, partner
employed, 17-year boy)
‘the situation brought us (son) closer together because I have more time for him (son)’. (Mother, 48 years, high stress,
single, 10-year boy)
‘Despite all the changes we had in our lives, I have always so far had great family support’. (Father, 40 years, low stress,
partner employed, 16-year children)
‘We no longer have a housemaid so that eventually brought them closer to me. They know the mother is now always
available. The same goes for my husband’. (Mother, 41 years, low stress, partner employed)
‘Our life partly improved. I am more available for my daughter now’. (Mother, 49 years, low stress, single, 11-year girl)
‘In terms of family, there is more unification and support’. (Father, 41 years, low stress, partner employed, 15-year boy)
‘Family support helps to disguise the growing tension … There is greater solidarity among all’. (Father, 50 years, high
stress, partner employed, 17-year girl)
‘I have more motivation to be with my children, to help them with homework and to go out more’. (Mother, 45 years,
low stress, single, 12-year girl)
‘In general we had to cut in various family outings but also it had the positive side. We have more time to be with
family’. (Mother, 30 years, low stress, unemployed partner, 13-year boy)
Negative ‘House where there is no ‘bread’ all argue and no one is right’. (Mother, 52 years, low stress, single, 18-year girl)
changes ‘The mood changes are a constant with respect to the couple. I am more often with a bad temper’. (Father, 44 years,
low stress, unemployed partner, 14-year girl)
‘There is less dialogue and more apprehension’. (Mother, 42 years, high stress, partner employed, 16-year girl)
‘The situation implied a set of friction between us (Father and daughter)’. (Father, 47 years, high stress)
‘At the family level (which is the people for whom we cannot always be pretending) makes us not be so good parents
… and the panic of thinking that at any time my husband can also get unemployed is terrifying us all’. (Mother, 40 years,
high stress, partner employed, 11-year boy)
‘The biggest change is that I spend much more time at home now. They (children) were surprised at first and did not
like it because they had to say where they were going all the time. Now they are used to it’. (Mother, 46 years, high
stress, partner employed, 14-year girl)
‘We cannot have a normal family life’. (Mother, 58 years, high stress, single, 19-year boy)
‘Family support is essential to face unemployment as a life that is not yet over’. (Mother, 47 years, low stress, partner
employed, 12-year boy)
‘My unemployment, together with the fact that my wife has a lot free time also, has led to an increase in marital
conflicts’. (Father, 44 years, low stress, partner employed, 10-year boy)
‘My kids think I’m not capable’. (Father, 48 years, high stress, single, 17-year boy)
‘I started to have more time for my son but the fact of being at home all the time and not getting a job makes me more
nervous and I am easily harsher to him’. (Mother, 36 years, high stress, single, 12-year boy)
‘Bad family environment’. (Father, 44 years, high stress, unemployed partner, 12-year boy)
‘… at the family level (which are the people for whom we cannot always be pretending) makes us not be so good
parents … and the panic of thinking that at any time my husband can also get unemployed is something that terrifies
us’. (Mother, 40 years, high stress, partner employed, 11-year boy)
‘The inability to financially support the education of my daughter implies a set of conflicts … sometimes making us take
extreme positions as parents which have negative effects on her emotional well-being’. (Father, 47 years, high stress,
partner employed, 15-year girl)
‘Having no way to give our children what they need, they are bad tempered, sad and this leads to temporary
arguments’. (Mother, 47 years, low stress, single, 10-year girl)

most frequently mentioned were worry, anger, bad temper ‘I feel insecure.’ (Mother, 52 years, high stress, unemployed
and sadness. For example, partner, 18-year boy)

‘We are all sad, nervous and worried.’ (Father, 37 years, high ‘I am constantly striving and sometimes I transfer (son) my
stress, single, 10-year girl) anxiety and bad temper to him. I have no doubt that being
unemployed took my quality of life, I have no doubt about it.’
‘I feel more sensitive to little things and sometimes feel (Mother, 48 years, high stress, single, 10-year boy)
angry.’ (Father, 48 years, low stress, single, 18-year girl)
Unemployment as a source of youth low well-being. The
‘I feel changes in terms of sadness.’ (Mother, 49 years, high transmission of stress to their children was less stated.
stress, unemployed partner, 18-year boy) However, for these participants, their unemployment

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Frasquilho et al. 7

Table 4.  Perceptions of unemployment as a source of distress (n = 10).

‘We are all sad, nervous and worried’. (Father, 37 years, high stress, single, 10-year girl)
‘I feel more sensitive to little things and sometimes feel angry’. (Father, 48 years, low stress, single, 18-year girl)
‘I feel changes in terms of sadness’. (Mother, 49 years, high stress, unemployed partner, 18-year boy)
‘I feel insecure’. (Mother, 52 years, high stress, unemployed partner, 18-year boy)
‘I am constantly striving and sometimes I transfer him (son) my anxiety and bad temper. I have no doubt that being unemployed
took my quality of life, I have no doubt it’. (Mother, 48 years, high stress, single, 10-year boy)
‘The biggest negative change of being unemployed, it is not knowing when I’ll get a job again’. (Father, 38 years, high stress, single,
12-year boy)
‘It completely changed our situation because it is very sad, in the age of technology that we are in this situation. Politicians do not
care about the people. It’s sad’. (Father, 46 years, high stress, unemployed partner, 19-year girl)
‘The changes are not in terms of the lack of material goods, but psychologically and on future planning’. (Mother, 52 years, high
stress, partner employed, 17-year boy)
‘The fact that a person has worked for 22 years (I ‘m 40!) and was thrown out of the company makes me feel very angry’. (Mother,
40 years, high stress, partner employed, 11-year boy)
‘There are huge changes. My husband is unemployed too, which strongly affects our well-being. He is also sicker because he has
bipolar disorder and being unemployed as further negatively affect his health’. (Mother, 53 years, unemployed partner, 16-year girl)
‘Unemployment changed my family life … due to my limited income I am more worried and that has caused conflicts with my
partner. Money does not bring happiness but it helps a lot’. (Mother, 42 years, high stress, partner employed, 12-year boy)

Table 5.  Perceptions of unemployment as a source of youth low well-being (n = 6).

‘My son is sad to see his mother worried and sad’. (Mother, 42 years, high stress, partner employed, 12-year boy)
‘Having no way to give our children what they need, they are bad tempered, sad and this leads to temporary arguments’. (Mother,
47 years, low stress, single, 10-year girl)
‘The inability to financially support the education of my daughter implies a set of conflicts … sometimes makes us take extreme
positions as parents which have negative effects on her emotional well-being’. (Father, 47 years, high stress, partner employed,
15-year girl)
‘We try to make them understand the importance of school work in their (children) lives, so that in the future they can be
successful people’. (Father, 39 years, low stress, partner employed, 17-year boy)
‘Despite having more time for my children my youngest seems to be a little concerned’. (Mother, 37 years, low stress, partner
employed)
‘My son and family are still not very affected. But to see his father at home and the mother working makes him a little worried’.
(Father, 46 years, high stress, partner employed, 12-year boy)

represented a negative event in their children’s well-being successful people.’ (Father, 39 years, low stress, partner
(Table 5), reporting perceiving sadness, worry and bad employed, 17-year boy)
temper in them.

‘My son is sad to see his mother worried and sad.’ (Mother, Discussion
42 years, high stress, partner employed, 12-year boy) This study focussed, in a sample where the majority of par-
ticipants score high on distress levels, qualitative data that
‘Having no way to give our children what they need, they are suggest that unemployment is experienced as a source of
bad tempered, sad and this leads to temporary arguments.’
economic hardship and pressure, emotional distress, change
(Mother, 47 years, low stress, single, 10-year girl)
in family relations (marital and parenting) and, ultimately,
‘The inability to financially support the education of my
a source of change in their children’s well-being.
daughter implies a set of conflicts … sometimes making us Economic hardship and pressure were linked to negative
take extreme positions as parents which has negative effects income change, difficulty with meeting day-to-day
on her emotional well-being.’ (Father, 47 years, high stress, expenses (food, clothing and house rent) and having to
partner employed, 15-year girl) make significant cutbacks in other expenditures (school
and education, leisure activities and savings). This is in line
This father also reported asking his children to improve with the argument that unemployed families experience
their focus on schoolwork: more financial hardship than working families (Fanjul,
2014; McClelland, 2000; Wall et al., 2013). The level of
‘We try to make them understand the importance of school deprivation, however, varied a lot. On one hand, some peo-
work in their (children) lives, so that in the future they can be ple reported that they had to adjust to a lower level of

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8 International Journal of Social Psychiatry

income and had cut out leisure activities, holidays and In sum, these findings highlight that unemployment is
meals in restaurants; and on the other hand, some people connected with economic strain and reduced family
reported to be in ‘survival mode’ having cut essential needs budget, which in turn seems to be potentially harmful to
such as food, clothing and health needs. The findings of this individuals’ and families’ quality of life, educational pur-
study also correspond with those of Paugam (2015), suits and overall mental well-being. Furthermore, unem-
depending on the countries, unemployed individuals report ployment seems also to bring negative consequences to
to be ‘living with less’ (e.g. in France and Germany), while children’s emotional well-being, which is particularly
others report to be ‘surviving’ (southern European coun- worrying as this can potentially leave emotional scars
tries), and such differences were found to be associated throughout their critical development period (Viner et al.,
with the inadequacy of certain countries’ social protection 2015).
systems. In our case, we argue that the unemployment situ- The reported changes in family relations varied signifi-
ations vary due to several factors related to the individuals. cantly in terms of being positive and negative, it seems fair
Thus, we believe that an individualized evaluation of finan- to suggest that this factor may act as a possible moderator
cial resources and needs (house rents, debts etc.) would of the effect of unemployment. For adults, especially those
prevent people from falling into extreme deprivation situa- from southern European countries where family has a cen-
tions when facing unemployment. tral role, having the support of their spouses and children
For most participants, the financial deprivation result- can be very significant. For youth, there is corroborating
ant from their unemployment situation affected their well- evidence that good family interactions seem to be protec-
being and quality of family life. For instance, the lack of tive against negative consequences of parental unemploy-
access to leisure activities was seen to be associated with a ment (Bacikova-Sleskova et al., 2011; Cui & Conger,
significant loss of quality of life. This is in line with the 2008; Willemen, Schuengel, & Koot, 2011). In fact, our
experience of deprived need for social experiences pro- previous quantitative analysis of data has shown that par-
posed by the unemployment research model of Jahoda ent–youth relationships play an important moderation role
(1982). Furthermore, many participants stated that their in the link between parental distress and youth emotional
inability to provide for their children’s basic needs and well-being during unemployment (Frasquilho et al., 2015).
education added to the experience of psychological stress Overall, the findings mirror the findings of previous
(e.g. worry, bad temper, anger and sadness). Other studies research carried out to date and are consistent with the con-
corroborate that unemployment and consequent financial ceptual model of family stress in the sense that unemploy-
deprivation negatively influence mental well-being ment is linked to increases in family economic pressure,
(Breslin & Breslin, 2013; Creed & Klisch, 2005; Creed & parental distress and changes in family relations, which in
Macintyre, 2001; Paul & Moser, 2009). turn are associated with possible negative emotional conse-
Changes in family relations due to unemployment were quences for young people (Conger & Donnellan, 2007).
reported to be either positive or negative. Findings suggest These findings contend that growing up in an unemployed
that, on one hand, family members can be brought closer household could negatively and cumulatively affect youth
together as a coping mechanism of social support, and on health across their lifetime, which supports the arguments
the other hand, there may be an increased strain on both of a life-course perspective (Sawyer et al., 2012).
marital and parent-child relationships. The literature also This study has some limitations. The participants were
shows that unemployment can both strengthen relations all receiving state unemployment benefits, and therefore,
and create tension and conflicts. It is possible, for instance, the findings may not be generalized to unemployed people
that such variation depends partly on the family cohesion who are not financially supported and may be experienc-
status prior to the unemployment situation (Ström, 2003). ing a different situation. Moreover, the study was carried
Either way, maintaining good relations with family while out in a capital city of a country facing an economic down-
unemployed was reported by the participants to be a sig- turn and expenditure cuts on state services; so the results
nificant source of support. may differ in other rural zones and by countries’ socioeco-
The findings also revealed that parents perceive that nomic context.
their adolescent children are somewhat aware of the situa- Despite its limitations, this study brings important
tion and are showing signs of low mental well-being (bad insight in terms of the unemployment experience of parents
temper, sadness and worry). This is supported by available and their families, thus contributing to what has been
evidence showing that parental unemployment is associ- explored in previous quantitative studies. The high preva-
ated with young people’s decreased levels of mental well- lence of psychological distress found in this sample pin-
being (Bacikova-Sleskova et al., 2011; Baxter et al., 2012; point that mental health interventions should be available to
Borges et al., 2011; Dew, Penkower, & Bromet, 1991; improve people and family members’ ability to cope with
Magklara et al., 2010; Reinhardt Pedersen & Madsen, the unemployment experience and reduce the negative out-
2002; Siponen et al., 2011; Sleskova, Salonna, et al., 2006; comes of job loss on mental health and promote high-qual-
Sleskova, Tuinstra, et al., 2006; Varga et al., 2014). ity re-employment. Current evidence corroborates the need

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Frasquilho et al. 9

for such actions showing potential society gains in overall Baxter, J., Gray, M., Hand, K., & Hayes, A. (2012). Parental job-
health (Stuckler, Basu, Suhrcke, Coutts, & McKee, 2009). lessness, financial disadvantage and the wellbeing of par-
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economic deprivation and pressure experiences, public No. 48). Retrieved from [Link]
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spending efforts may want to consider individualized eval-
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ployment to ensure that extreme cases of financial children
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Thus, future research and interventions to support autoperceção de saúde nos adolescentes [Family status and
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grammes and policies that are especially important for chology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.
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A study of parental unemployment and children’s risk of
This study described the subjective experiences of unem- abuse and neglect based on national longitudinal 1973 Birth
ployed parents. The majority of participants score high on Cohorts in Denmark. Childhood, 7, 421–438.
distress levels, and unemployment was described to affect Conger, R. D., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). An interactionist per-
people economically, psychologically, socially (family spective on the socioeconomic context of human develop-
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and the theoretical model of family stress and support that times: Adapting to change in rural America. Hawthorne,
unemployment risks people’s well-being and as well their NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
families. The findings improve our knowledge about the Creed, P. A., & Klisch, J. (2005). Future outlook and financial
strain: Testing the personal agency and latent depriva-
perspectives and processes involved during unemployment
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Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 251–260.
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Acknowledgements tor and moderator of the association between marital prob-
lems and adolescent maladjustment. Journal of Research on
The authors acknowledge Dr. Sharon Leahy from the University of
Adolescence, 18, 261–284.
St. Andrews who assisted in the proof-reading of the manuscript.
Dew, M. A., Penkower, L., & Bromet, E. J. (1991). Effects of
unemployment on mental health in the contemporary fam-
Conflict of interest ily. Behavior Modification, 15, 501–544.
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect Dougherty, L. R., Tolep, M. R., Smith, V. C., & Rose, S.
to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. (2013). Early exposure to parental depression and parent-
ing: Associations with young offspring’s stress physiol-
Funding ogy and oppositional behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child
Psychology, 41, 1299–1310.
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
Eurostat. (2013). Euro area unemployment rate at 12.1% [Press
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:
release]. Retrieved from [Link]
Frasquilho D receives a grant from the Portuguese Foundation for
release_STAT-14-4_en.htm
Science and Technology (FCT), reference SFRH/BD/80846/2011.
Eurostat. (2015). Euro area unemployment rate at 11.0%
[Press release]. Retrieved from [Link]
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