Summary:
The economic downturn has many adverse effects on an individual, collective, family, and social level. Low income, job insecurity, unemployment, living in poverty, financial hardship, lack of basic goods have been linked to mental health problems in both the adult, children, and adolescent populations. Likewise, the dynamics, function, cohesion of the family, as well as family member relationships do not remain unaffected. In Greece, the economic crisis began in late 2007 and its negative consequences have become apparent. There has been a significant increase in anxiety, depression, and suicides. At the same time studies have highlighted the risks to children's and adolescents’ mental health.
The present study discusses the effects of the economic downturn that our country has experienced and continues to experience, at the family level and its consequences on the mental health of adolescents. The impetus for organizing, designing, and conducting this research was to explore the indirect or direct impact of the economic crisis, such as parental unemployment, restrictions on adolescents’ activities, and worsening in family relationships in relation to possible emotional well-being, behavioral problems, low adolescent self-esteem, and low family cohesion.
The sample consists of 791 high school students from 20 schools in the wider area of the capital, 353 boys and 438 girls and was collected as part of a larger study conducted by the University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute "Costas Stefanis" (U.M.H.R.I.) in collaboration with the First Psychiatric Clinic of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. A self-administered questionnaire was provided which included questions regarding adolescents' socio-demographic characteristics, parents' work status, open-ended questions to spontaneously record the meaning of the economic crisis, questions about the economic crisis or the changes it may have brought to the adolescent, his or her relationship with his or her parents and the parental relationships themselves, the Family Rituals Scale (FRS), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES), and the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).
The results of the study demonstrated that father’s long-term unemployment was associated with a higher amount of emotional problems (2.51 ± 2.39, p = 0.007), behavioral problems (3.19 ± 1.88, p = 0.011), and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms (3.81 ± 2.58, p = 0.029) in adolescents. At the same time, these adolescents scored higher on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire overall score (12.53 ± 6.25, compared to 9.70 ± 5.71 p <0.001), as well as on the externalization (7.00 ± 3.92, compared to 5.54 ± 3.15, p <0.007) and internalization scales (5.53 ± 3.82, versus 4.17 ± 3.52, p <0.005). As for the Family Rituals Scale, families whose father is long-term unemployed showed a lower degree of family cohesion (24.37 ± 5.97) than the families where the father works (21.85 ± 5.40, p = 0.004). Adolescents whose father is unemployed for less than 12 months exhibited lower self-esteem (18.57 ± 5.72, p = 0.014).
Long-term as well as short-term maternal unemployment were associated with, on average, more frequent emotional problems (long-term unemployed: 2.98 ± 2.49, p = 0.023, unemployed <12 months: 3.57 ± 3.03, p = 0.019), more internalized problems (long-term unemployed: 4.93 ± 3.93, p = 0.038, unemployed <12 months: 5.37 ± 4.11 p = 0.048) and higher scores in the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire overall score (long-term unemployed: 11.26 ± 6.47, p = 0.019, unemployed <12 months: 11.69 ± 6.40 p = 0.036). In addition, adolescents whose mothers are long-term unemployed experienced more attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms (3.57 ± 2.48, p = 0.032). Families where the mother is unemployed for less than 12 months showed lower family cohesion (24.26 ± 5.86, p = 0.008).
Restrictions on adolescents' activities as well as parent - adolescent relationship deterioration due to the financial crisis have been linked to increased emotional problems, behavioral problems, hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder symptoms, peer problems, internalization and externalization symptoms, higher overall score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, as well as self-esteem, and family cohesion worsening (p <0.001).
We conclude that during times of economic recession, one or both parents may lose their jobs, there may be a reduction in adolescents’ activities, family relationships could worsen, affecting adolescents' mental health, self-esteem, and family cohesion. These findings are of particular importance in order to emphasize, try to prevent and address the adverse effects of the financial crisis on adolescents' mental health, especially nowadays, where restrictive measures, due to the novel coronavirus, have led to additional serious effects on the economy.
