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Associations between U.S. high school student employment status during the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health outcomes, short sleep, and parental abuse: Analysis of Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) data. Taylor Shockey* Taylor Shockey Sharon Silver
Background: Work is a social determinant of health, and the COVID-19 pandemic affected the employment of many working Americans, including high school students. Employment status is linked to household economics, sleep, social networks, mental health, family relationships, and a person’s overall daily life. This study sought to examine differences in mental health outcomes, hours of sleep per day, and parental abuse among U.S. high school students based on their employment status before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) data from January-June 2021 was analyzed to obtain weighted prevalences and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) for select mental health outcomes (e.g., poor mental health during the past 30 days, poor mental health during the pandemic and persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness), emotional abuse by a parent, and short sleep by among students who had or had not lost a job during the COVID-19 pandemic. Student age, sex, race/ethnicity, grade level, and sexual identity were evaluated as potential confounders.
Results: Among students reporting job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, the unadjusted prevalences for persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (54.9%), poor mental health during the pandemic (48.7%), emotional abuse by a parent (67.9%) were all significantly elevated compared to the prevalences of students who had not lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aPRs for these measures and short sleep also had statistically significant elevations.
Discussion: While the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with negative health outcomes among adolescents, this is one of the first studies to examine associations between adolescent job loss during the pandemic and certain mental health outcomes, emotional abuse by a parent, and short sleep. These results highlight the importance of high school students’ employment in maintaining mental health.