Young people leaving adolescence behind—so-called emerging adults—are 3 times more likely to be depressed if they are unemployed compared with peers who are working, a recent study reported.
Investigators analyzed data in the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from emerging adults aged 18 to 25 years who were not students. Those who scored 10 or more on the Patient Health Questionnaire—a screening questionnaire for mental health disorders—were classified as depressed. The analysis also took into account the potentially confounding variables of disabilities, smoking, body mass index, health insurance, and sociodemographic variables (McGee RE and Thompson NJ. Prev Chronic Dis. 2015;12:140451).