Long‐term effects of youth unemployment on alcohol‐related morbidity

AIM: To test if exposure to unemployment in young adulthood is associated with an increased risk of later alcohol-related morbidity. DESIGN: A nation-wide register-linked longitudinal population-based study. SETTING: Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 16 490 individuals born between 1967 and 1978, who had participated in the Labour Force Survey between the ages of 16-24 years during 1990-95. MEASUREMENT: Information on the outcome of alcohol-related morbidity was obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Register. The Swedish index of alcohol-related in-patient care was used to define the outcome. Information on sex, age and country of birth, as well as parents' level of education, socio-economic status and alcohol-related health problems, were also obtained. Average follow-up time was 22 years. Cox regression analysis was used to obtain hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). FINDINGS: Compared with full-time students, individuals who experienced short- and long-term unemployment spells at a young age were at an increased risk of later alcohol-related morbidity; 6 months (HR = 1.99, 95% CI = 1.06-3.71) of unemployment, after adjusting for several important individual and family level covariates. CONCLUSION: In Sweden, a nation-wide register-based study with a 22-year follow-up suggests that being unemployed in young adulthood is associated with an increased risk of alcohol-related morbidity later in life.