Unemployment and mental health in a community population from a border city in Mexico

BACKGROUND: The constant changes in the global economy generate instability in the markets, favoring the closing of companies, dismissals of personnel, job losses. Unemployment has been associated with adverse psychological effects, serving as a predictor of poor mental health. OBJECTIVE: The main goal was to analyze the relation between work status and mental health. METHODS: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was carried out with a sample of community population, inhabitants of the urban area of a Mexican city. The sample consisted of 1351 participants, being 577 men (43%) and 774 women (57%) with an average age of 41.46 (SD = 17.00). The participants were selected by a quota sampling, in 13 representative points of Matamoros’ city urban area. Home surveys were applied; the Spanish version of the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) was used for mental health assessment. RESULTS: The model explaining the relation between work status and mental health (GFI) was significant (p