Korean journal of psychology:General (한국심리학회지ㆍ일반)

Korean Health Psychological Association (한국건강심리학회)
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The Change of Mental Health according to the State of Employment among the University Graduates

대졸자들의 취업 여부에 따른 정신건강의 변화

Jang, Jae-Yun;Sin, Hui-Cheon;Jang, Eun-Yeong
장재윤;신희천;장은영

  • Published : 20060000
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Abstract

This longitudinal study investigated the change of mental health according to the state of employment among the university graduates. The purpose of this study had two folds. First purpose was to evaluate the effect of long term youth unemployment experience on the mental health. Second purpose was to examine the effect of employment experience on the mental health among the university graduates. To achieve this research purpose, we designed longitudinal study composed by four surveys at six-month intervals. At all four points, participants were asked to answer GHQ (General Health Questionnaire) to measure the level of mental health. GHQ consists of depression anxiety subscale and disadjustment subscale. The data from 560 graduates who were identified whether employed or not were used for final analysis. We divided this data into four groups: First, ‘employment-employment-employment group(G1)’ was composed by the graduates who were employed at T2, T3 and T4. Second, ‘unemployment- employment- employment group(G2)’ was composed by the graduates who were employed at T3 and T4. Third, ‘unemployment-unemployment-employment group(G3)’ was composed by the graduates who were employed at T4. Fourth, ‘unemployment-unemployment-unemployment group(G4)’ was composed by the graduates who were unemployed during all four points. The results showed that the employment had positive effect on the emotional mental health at the point of job achievement, and that the long term youth unemployment resulted in the negative changes of the emotional mental health(GHQ-depression anxiety). The implications and limitations of this study were discussed and future directions of study were suggested.

본 연구는 청년들의 취업 및 실업 경험이 정신건강에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 종단적으로 알아보는 데 목적이 있다. 구체적으로 대학을 졸업하고 난 이후에 지속적으로 미취업 상태로 남아있는 사람들의 정신건강의 문제 그리고 취업에 성공하는 경험이 정신건강의 변화에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 한다. 이를 위해서 국내 대학교 4학년생들을 대상으로 1차 조사를 실시하고 이후 약 6개월 간격으로 2차 조사, 3차 및 4차 조사를 실시하였다. 네 시점에서 모두 응답자들의 취업여부를 조사하고 정신건강을 우울･불안 차원과 부적응 차원으로 측정하였다. 4차 조사까지 모두 응답한 560명 중에서 2차, 3차 및 4차 시점의 취업여부에 의해서 집단을 다음과 같이 나누었다: 2차, 3차 및 4차 시점 순서대로, 모두 취업 상태인 집단(‘취업-취업-취업 집단’), 3차 시점에서 취업에 성공한 집단(‘미취업-취업-취업 집단’), 4차 시점에서 취업에 성공한 집단(‘미취업-미취업-취업 집단’) 그리고 모두 미취업 상태인 집단(‘미취업-미취업-미취업 집단’). 각 집단별로 취업여부에 따른 정신건강의 변화를 살펴본 결과, 취업 성공 및 실업 경험은 우울･불안의 변화에 영향을 미쳤다. 취업에 성공한 사람들은 취업 전 시점에 비해 우울･불안 수준이 낮아졌으며, 장기간 미취업 상태에 남아있는 사람들은 졸업 3개월 후인 3차 시점에서 우울･불안 수준이 높아지다가 시간이 지나면서 다소 완화되는 경향을 보였다. 반면에, 부적응 수준은 취업의 성공 및 실패에 따라 민감하게 변화하지 않았다. 끝으로 본 연구의 시사점과 제한점 및 장래 연구의 과제가 논의되었다.

Keywords

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