Effects of spouse's employment status on depression

Abstract

Objectives: Whether the spouse's employment status would be associated with individual's mental health condition is uncertain. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of spouse's employment status on depression.

Methods: Data included the second to sixth wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA). Depression was measured based on the CES-D10. Spouse's employment status was divided into 4 categories based on their employment changes.

Results: Participants with still unemployed spouse were more likely to have high scores of depression (male: β = 0.32, female: β = 0.42). Participants who are employed and have unemployed spouse have higher depression scores (male: β = 0.45, female: β = 0.77).

Conclusion: This study identified the effect of spouse's employment status on depression by gender, and the results were significant. We should consider the possibility of conducting interventions with people who are remained unemployed.