Journal of Social Service Research

ISSN: 0148-8376 (Print) 1540-7314 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wssr20

Association Between Unemployment Duration and

Depression in the SouthWest Region of Turkey: A
Cross-Sectional Study

Metin Picakciefe, Dilek Mutlu & Emrah Kocaturk

To cite this article: Metin Picakciefe, Dilek Mutlu & Emrah Kocaturk (2015): Association
Between Unemployment Duration and Depression in the SouthWest Region of Turkey: A Cross-
Sectional Study, Journal of Social Service Research, DOI: 10.1080/01488376.2015.1093997

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2015.1093997

Published online: 18 Dec 2015.

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 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SERVICE RESEARCH
2015, VOL. 0, NO. 0, 1–9
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2015.1093997

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Association Between Unemployment Duration and Depression in the SouthWest

Region of Turkey: A Cross-Sectional Study
Metin Picakciefea, Dilek Mutlub, and Emrah Kocaturkc
a
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Mugla S.K. University, Mugla, Turkey; bDepartment of Nursing, School of Health Sciences,
Mugla S.K. University, Mugla, Turkey; cDepartment of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Mugla S.K. University, Mugla,Turkey

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Unemployment has risen as an effect of globalization in the country of Turkey. To date, no studies Depression and
have examined the association between the duration of unemployment and perceived mental unemployment; mental
health. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the association between the duration of health and depression;
Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 09:46 15 March 2016

unemployment and the incidenence of depression among citizens in the southwest region of Turkey and unemployment;
unemployed; unemployment
Turkey. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 908 unemployed individuals. The duration
questionnaire gathered sociodemographic characteristics and employment-related circumstances.
To measure mental health, a depression inventory was administered and group-wise t-tests and
logistic regressions were conducted. The findings show that long-term unemployed persons had
more episodes of depressive moods in the past 12 months when compared with the group of the
short-term unemployed. In addition, depression levels were higher among the long-term
unemployed compared with the short-term unemployed. It was estimated that the duration of
unemployment and the measurement of depression had a positive correlation. Risk factors that
increased depression in the short-term unemployed were gender (female), older age, and greater
periods of unemployment. However, higher education, income, and having social insurance
significantly decreased the risk of developing depression for both the short-term and the long-term
unemployed. Future recommendations include supportive counseling to increase motivation levels
and developing strategies to handle periods of unemployment.

Introduction
Studies have shown that employment protects psycho-
logical health by providing meaning and structure to
people’s lives (Cramm, Moller, & Nieboer, 2010).
Employment, in most societies, is one of the factors
used to describe the economic and social situation of
the country. Employment facilitates the fulfilment of
socially defined needs in two ways: by providing social
identity in a society where work is the norm and by
providing the means for economic participation in a
society where work is the main source of private eco-
nomic resources (Nordenmark, & Strandh, 1999).
Dahlgren and Whitehead (1991) mention that the loss
of employment is one of the factors that has consider-
able influence on health status (Dahlgren & White-
head, 1991). In literature, it had been found that
unemployment affects physical and mental health
negatively (Jones, 1991; Bartley, 1994; Korzeniewska,
1995; Dooley, Fielding, & Levi, 1996; Pohjola, 2001;
Stankunas & Kalediene, 2005; Comino et al., 2003; Jin,
Shah, & Svoboda, 1996; Ostry & Spiegel, 2004; Smith,
1998; Green et al., 2003; Zabos et al., 2002; Nguyen,
Hakkinen, & Rosenqvist, 2005; Saridakisa & Spen-
glerb, 2012; Pellegrini & Rodriguez-Monguioa, 2013).
A recent study from Finland indicated that current
unemployment was associated with major depressive
episodes in the general population (Hamalainen et al.,
2005). Health 21, a document of the World Health
Organization, stresses the importance of tackling
social inequalities in health (WHO, 1996). This issue
is especially important in countries that are undergo-
ing rapid social, economic, and political reforms. Such
changes influence the social, demographic, and health
situation of a population.
Unemployment problems have been a major issue
in Turkey since the 1950s. Until the early 1950s, the
prevalence of joblessness in Turkey was very low
(about 1.5% of the working age population). The rapid

CONTACT Metin Picakciefe mpicakciefe@hotmail.com, metinpicakciefe@mu.edu.tr Mugla S.K. University, Department of Public Health, Faculty of
Medicine Mugla, Turkey
© 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 2 M. PICAKCIEFE ET AL.
growth of population and urbanization led to an
increase in unemloyment rates from 1950 to 1970.
High unemployment rates have continued since 1970.
Since 1980, Turkey has faced many challenges in the
transformation of political, social, and economic sys-
tems. The transition from a planned to a market econ-
omy caused an increase in competition, rise of private
capital, and changes in the labor market that involved
growing unemployment. The unemployment rate
gradually increased during the 1990–2003 period. In
2003, the unemployment rate reached its highest
reported level of 10.5% (TUIK, 2007). Since 2003, job-
lessness started to decrease; nevertheless, the unem-
ployment rate was still 9.3% in Turkey in 2013 (TUIK,
2013). Nonetheless, there is an inadequate social sup-
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port system for unemployed persons in Turkey. Only
1.1% of applied unemployed persons receive unem-
ployment benefits (Economic Policiy Research Foun-
dation of Turkey, 2012) More than 22% of these
persons are long-term unemployed (European Com-
mission, 2012).
The prevalence of mental disorders is 18% in
Turkey, and mental illness rates are on the rise.
Various epidemiological studies show that about
one of every seven people in our country needs
psychological, psychotherapeutic, or psychiatric
counselling (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health,
2011). Moreover, the suicide rate in Turkey
increased in the period between 1996 and 2005
years; it was 3.8 per 100,000 people in 2005 (Asird-
izer, Yavuz, Aydin, & Dizdar, 2010). Until recently,
only a few efforts have been made to investigate
the associations between mental health and unem-
ployment in Turkey (Bilgic & Yilmaz, 2010; Kurt,
2006). Therefore, studies on the impact of unem-
ployment on health should be of major importance
for improving mental health among different social
groups in Turkey. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the associations between unemployment
duration and depression in Turkey.
Methods
Sample
This study was performed in Mugla, the city located in
the southwest region of Turkey. The city is a rich area
for energy production and tourism. The population of
the city (as per a 2011 estimate) is 838,324. The official
rate of unemployment among the working-age
population of Mugla in 2010 was 10.1% (TUIK, 2010).
Our analysis covers officially registered unemployed
persons in Mugla. The International Labour Organiza-
tion defines a long-term unemployed person as some-
one who is unemployed for 12 months or more; short-
term unemployment is less than 6 months (ILO,
2013).
The cross-sectional analysis was conducted between
January 19 and February 13, 2010. The total number
of unemployed people that applied to Mugla Employ-
ment Services for a job was 908, and the questionnaire
was applied to all. The total number of returned ques-
tionnaires was 908 (a response rate of 100%). To
gather data, a questionnaire was used during face-to-
face, 15 to 20 minute interviews (during a registration
visit) with unemployed individuals at Mugla Employ-
ment Services.
The questionnaire
The questionnaire package consisted of two parts. The
first part included items about the socio-demographic
characteristics of the individuals and their employ-
ment history. The second part, focused on questions
related to depressive behavior. A standardized scale
was used for the measurement of depression: Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI).
The Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1961)
is a 21-item questionnaire, widely used to measure the
severity of depressive symptoms. It contains 21 items,
asking about cognitive, motivational, affective,
and behavioral symptoms of depression (Beck &
Beamesderfer, 1974). Each item is scored on a 4-point
scale, indicating the severity/persistence of a symptom,
where 0 indicates that a symptom is absent and 3 indi-
cates that a symptom is severe or persistent. BDI
scores range from 0 to 63. Severity scores are inter-
preted as follows: 0–9 minimal, 10–16 mild, 17–29
moderate, and 30–63 severe (Yonkers & Samson,
2000). Depression was considered if the BDI score was
15 or more (Viinamaki, 2004).
Procedure
The research was conducted within the framework of
ethical rules. Written permission was taken before the
study from the Director of Mugla Employment Serv-
ices, Mugla Governorship, and Mugla S.K. University.
During a visit to the agency, respondents were
approached and invited to participate. Verbal

permissions were taken form unemployed people
before the survey was administered, and the aim of
the study was explained to participants. All 908
respondents offered the survey agreed to participate.
Statistical analyses
Once the anonymous surveys were returned, data
were computed, coded, and analyzed using the Statis-
tical Package for the Social Sciences for Windows,
Version 17.0 (SPSS Inc.). The following statistical
analyses were applied: 1) descriptive statistics and 2)
logistic regression. The statistical significance of differ-
ences between two groups was assessed using a two-
tailed Student (t) test for continuous variables. The
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correlation (r) between duration of unemployment (in
months) and the BDI score was assessed.
For evaluation of the impact of explanatory varia-
bles on analyzed event (binary dependent variable), an
Enter model of logistic regression was used. The
dependent variable was depression (was depressed or
not, according to BDI test). Gender, age, education,
marital status, income, unemployment duration, epi-
sodes of unemployment, social insurance, and resi-
dence location were used as independent variables.
Risk was measured using the odds ratio (OR), calcu-
lating the 95% confidence interval (CI). Differences in
results at the P < 0.05 level were considered statisti-
cally significant.
Results
Of the 908 respondents, 722 (79.5%) were males and
186 (20.5%) females. The distribution of respondents
by age was the following: under 25 years (25.2%), 25–
34 years (51.3%), 35–44 years (20.9%), and 45–55 years
(2.3%). The prevalence of main sociodemographic
characteristics by type of unemployment is presented
in Table 1. It demonstrates that the short-term unem-
ployed were younger, more educated, and resided in
urban areas in comparison to the long-term unem-
ployed respondents.
The BDI was used to measure the severity of
depressive symptoms. The means of the BDI Index
and the distribution of the levels of depression symp-
toms by duration of unemployment are presented in
Table 2. Based on these findings, we can claim that
long-term unemployed individuals express more
depressive symptoms than do the short-term unem-
ployed. In addition, the BDI score mean was higher
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SERVICE RESEARCH 3
among women than it was among men (13.5 § 7.6
and 11.1 § 3.1, respectively, P < 0.05). The correla-
tion between the length of unemployment and the
BDI Index was calculated. The observed association
was significant but not considerably so: the correlation
coefficient was 0.1931 (P < 0.001).
Logistic regression was used to estimate the risk
factors involved in the occurrence of depression
(Table 3). Among the short-term unemployed, the
risk of depression significantly increased for females
(OR D 3.10), for those who were older (OR D 1.43),
and for those individuals who had more episodes of
unemployment (OR D 2.23) than others. However,
higher education (OR D 0.95), income (OR D 0.86),
and having social insurance (OR D 0.77) were factors
that significantly decreased the risk of depression. In
the case of the long-term unemployment, older age
(OR D 2.51) was the significant risk factor for devel-
oping depression. Higher education (OR D 0.73),
higher income (OR D 0.79), and having social insur-
ance (OR D 0.61) however, decreased the risk of
developing depression in the long-term unemployed
group. For all respondents, being female (OR D 2.11),
being older (OR D 1.97), and having a number of
unemployment periods (OR D 2.35) increased the risk
of depression. The opposite effect was observed with
education (OR D 0.52), higher income (OR D 0.65),
and having social insurance (OR D 0.78).
Discussion
Prior to proceeding with the discussion on the
results of this study, certain important methodologi-
cal issues require explanation. First is the rate of
unemployment registration. The Turkish Employ-
ment Organization (TEO) collects and analyzes the
movement of the labor force in Turkey. The study
sample fully represented the general unemployed
population in Mugla in terms of gender and age.
According to official data of TEO, 64.1% of unem-
ployed were males and 35.9% were females (in the
study sample, 79.5% and 20.5%, respectively). Dis-
tribution according to age was also similar (Republic
of Turkey Ministry of Labour and Social Security,
2011). However, official unemployment data are
likely to be an underestimation of the actual number
of jobless individuals, who are either not registered
with the TEO or working illegally. This state register
does not include persons seeking jobs through
 4 M. PICAKCIEFE ET AL.

Table 1. Socio-demographic Characteristics of Unemployed People.

Unemployment Duration (%/n)
Variable Short-term N D 671 Long-term N D 237 P values

Gender
Male 85.2/572 63.3/150 .087
Female 14.8/99 36.7/87
Age group
18–24 23.9/161 11.0/26 .004
25–34 43.2/290 19.4/46 .114
35–44 25.4/170 35.9/85 .102
45–55 7.5/50 33.7/80 .007
Educational level
Primary 0.5/3 0.8/2 .230
Incomplete secondary 6.0/40 21.1/50 .030
Secondary 22.6/152 27.4/65 .020
College level 44.8/301 29.5/70 .298
University degree 26.1/175 21.2/50 .024
Marital status
Single 42.7/287 30.8/73 .702
Married 54.8/367 66.6/158 .208
Divorced 2.5/17 2.6/6 .987
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Income status (Monthly)

No income 14.6/98 27.4/65 .089
 527 TL 26.0/174 42.6/101 .156
> 527 TL 59.4/399 30.0/71 .098
Number of household
3 44.7/300 43.8/104 .756
4 55.3/371 56.2/133 .132
Social insurance status
Uninsured 23.7/159 27.5/65 .879
Insured 76.3/512 72.5/172 .074
Residence area
Urban 76.9/516 69.6/165 .005
Rural 23.1/155 30.3/72 .002

Note. n – number of observed persons

p – significance level comparing short-term and long-term unemployment groups, P < 0.05, Student’s t-test
TL (Turkish Lira)-1 U.S. dolar » 1.52 TL

private labor agencies. Various cross-sectional stud-
ies performed in Turkey suggest that the rate of
unemployment is two to two and a half times higher
than that reported by official statistics (Yurdakul,
2008; Sarac, 2012).
Second, relevant to the first issue, the results are
possibly limited, in part, by the type of respondents
selected for this study. It is not clear whether these
respondents—those unemployed persons who were
registered with the labor office—are more socialized
or less socially marginalized than other unemployed
individuals that did not register with their local labor
office. Other studies on unemployment have suggested
that individuals that feel social marginalization may
also have a greater probability to engage in asocial
behavior (Juska & Pozzuto, 2004). Thus, it might be
predicted, that these people also have mental health
problems.
Finally, since this study is not longitudinal, it did
not permit follow-up measures to be applied to the

Table 2. Beck Depression Inventory Index Means and Levels of Depression Symptoms.
Variable Unemployment Duration (%/n) (m§ SD)
Short-term N D 671 Long-term N D 237 P values

BDI Index mean 13.7 § 8.9 14.9 § 1.2 .000

Levels of depression symptoms
Minimal 63.9/429 35.8/85 .030
Mild 36.5/245 17.4/41 .385
Moderate 28.3/190 34.2/81 .020
Severe 8.0/54 12.6/30 .298
Depression with BDI 14/15 cut-off point 30.9/208 47.6/113 .001

Note. m – mean
SD – standard deviation
n – number of observed persons
p – significance level comparing short-term and long-term unemployment groups, p < 0.05, Student’s t-test
 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SERVICE RESEARCH 5

Table 3. Risk of Depression Among the Unemployed, According to Logistic Regression Analysis.
Variable Short-term unemployed Long-term unemployed All respondents
N D 671 N D 237 N D 908

OR 95% CI OR 95% CI OR 95% CI

Being female 3.10 1.41–4.75 1.69 0.87–5.23 2.11 1.15–5.43

Older age (each age group) 1.43 1.23–3.48 2.51 1.11–3.01 1.97 1.40–2.98
Education (higher level of education) 0.95 0.41–0.96 0.73 0.27–0.73 0.52 0.43–0.91
Urban residence 1.42 0.29–9.23 0.58 0.35–2.71 0.61 0.41–2.79
Living without a partner 1.13 0.54–3.43 1.96 0.68–2.11 1.59 0.58–3.07
Higher income 0.86 0.43–0.89 0.79 0.59–0.97 0.65 1.32–2.23
Unemployment duration (each additional month) 1.31 0.89–1.78 1.13 0.37–2.89 1.21 0.11–1.37
Number of unemployment periods (each additional time) 2.23 1.32–2.65 1.79 0.67–2.06 2.35 1.62–3.54
Social insurance (insured) 0.77 0.23–0.98 0.61 0.91–0.99 0.78 0.61–0.94

Note. OR – odds ratio

CI – confidence interval

respondents during the length of their unemployment. caused people to lose faith in possible reemployment.
Therefore, it could not be determined if mental health Therefore, these people were more likely to seek unof-
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status would have changed over time.
Unemployment, as a socioeconomic factor, is rel-
atively old in Turkish society. Since the beginning
of the political and economic reforms in 1980, cir-
cumstances in Turkey have changed dramatically.
The population of the country was exposed to fun-
damental and unfamiliar economic, political, and
social changes (Gurses, 2007). The transition from a
planned to a market economy had a considerable
impact on the employment situation in Turkey. By
late 1990, the unemployment rate started to
increase, and by the end of 1994, it had climbed to
8.6% (TUIK, 2007). In the summer of 2004, the gov-
ernment of Turkey passed a law that increased the
minimum wage from 306,000 to 423,000 Turkish
lira (the U.S dolar was then equal to 1,467 Turkish
lira) (The Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry, 2013;
Central Bank of Turkey, 2013). By virtue of this reg-
ulation, the workforce became more expensive, and,
therefore, unemployment could suddenly increase.
Indeed, the peak in the unemployment rate reached
10.3% in early 2005 (TUIK, 2007). In recent years,
unemployment has started to decrease; however,
Turkey is still facing a rate that is higher than the
average in other European Union countries (TUIK,
2013). As previously mentioned, more than 22% of
those registered as unemployed have been jobless
over the long-term (European Commission, 2012).
For this study, the effort was to evaluate the occur-
rence of depression according to the duration of
unemployment, and special interest was paid to the
long-term unemployed.
Previous sociological studies on unemployment in
Lithuania indicated that long-term unemployment
ficial or short-term/seasonal jobs instead of long-term,
official positions (Pocius & Okuneviciute-Neveraus-
kiene, 2003). The possible causes of such behavior
among the unemployed include passiveness, lack of
motivation, and an unwillingness to change. The
results of this study emphasize that self-reported
depressive moods occurred more often among persons
unemployed for a long-term rather than a short-term.
These findings support the link between unemploy-
ment duration and poor psychological health: the lon-
ger a person is unemployed, the worse health
becomes. Winefield concluded that the damage to
mental wellbeing and the intensity of psychological
distress depend greatly on the duration of unemploy-
ment (Winefield & Tiggemann, 1990).
The results of a Japanese study showed that depres-
sive symptoms were stable during the first year of
unemployment but observed a sharp increase after
one year. The authors of this study suggest that this
might have been due to the financial support provided
by unemployment benefits. When the right to unem-
ployment benefits expired, mood disorders occurred
(Matoba, Ishitake, & Noguchi, 2003). This study did
not assess the link between depression and unemploy-
ment benefits. The reasons for this decision follow: 1)
only a small proportion of the unemployed (1.1%)
registered by the TEO receive unemployment benefits
and 2) this benefit is too small (approximately, 234
U.S. dollar per month) (TEO, 2009) to cover minimal
living expenses adequately. These aspects determined
the choice to measure the importance of general
household income per capita per month. The logistic
regression analysis showed that a higher income
reduces the risk of depression. The results from a
 6 M. PICAKCIEFE ET AL.
cross-sectional study of seven post-Soviet countries
substantiate that material wellbeing has considerable
impact on self-reported health (Bobak et al., 2000).
The entirely likely prediction is that unemployment
benefits did not play a crucial role in the occurrence of
depressive symptoms among job seekers. The eco-
nomic situation of the entire household plays a much
more important role.
To obtain results that are more standardized related
to depression, the Beck Depression Inventory was
used, especially because this measurement instrument
was used in a number of previous studies on this topic
(Melville, Hope, Bennison, & Barraclough, 1985; Hall
& Johnson, 1988; Viinamaki, Koskela, Niskanen, Arn-
kill, & Tikkanen, 1993). These previous studies show
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that the means of BDI were higher among the unem-
ployed in comparison with the employed. Moreover,
the BDI scores in the referenced studies were lower
than were those found among out-of-work Turks
(Melville, Hope, Bennison, & Barraclough, 1985; Hall
& Johnson, 1988). One possible explanation is that the
general population of Turkey tends to suffer more
from depression. The extremely high suicide rates
express this indirectly (TUIK, 2013). Many authors
conclude that the dramatic changes in the cultural,
economic, and social life of the society are risk factors
for suicide (Wasserman, Varnik, & Eklund, 1994).
Growing unemployment could be listed as one of
the most significant changes in the newly developing
state. Several studies have revealed increased rates of
suicide during periods of economic recession and high
unemployment (Platt, 1984; Weyerer & Wiedenmann,
1995). Nevertheless, during the period of the most
intensive increase in unemployment, suicide rates
were decreasing in Turkey. A similar phenomenon
was reported in Latvia and in Lithuania, suggesting
that the relationship between unemployment and sui-
cide is very complex and atypical both in Latvia and in
Lithuania. Other factors appear to play roles that are
more important in influencing the levels of suicide in
these countries (Stankunas, Kalediene, Starkuviene, &
Kapustinskiene, 2006; Raskans, Slander Renberg, &
Jacobson, 2001). It might be that the association
between unemployment and suicide exists due to the
strong persistence of a culture of poverty in our coun-
try, especially among jobless individuals. American
anthropologist Oscar Lewis introduced the culture of
poverty theory in 1966. It is suggested that this theory
is relevant in discussing the links between
unemployment and depression in Turkey. According
to this theory, poor people have a strong feeling of
marginality, helplessness, dependency, and not
belonging.
These feelings generate a way of life that constitutes
a culture of poverty (Lewis, 1969). Some connections
between a culture of poverty and unemployment
could be identified. Unemployment has a particular
impact on personality: additional worries, irritability,
and decreased attention and ability to concentrate.
These problems lead to an uncertain life conduct, a
crisis about the values that had previously guided
behavior, and the development and embedding of
neurotic reactions (Laurell, 1991; Turner, Kessler, &
House, 1991; Vinokur, Price, & Caplan, 1991). Addi-
tionally, unemployed persons start to feel shame about
belonging to this social category (Rantakeisu, Starrin,
& Hagquist, 1997). Subsequently, unemployment
leads to negative lifestyle changes (Laitinen, Ek, &
Sovio, 2002). Unemployed persons are more likely to
engage in drinking alcohol (Mullahy & Sindelar,
1996), smoking (Janlert, 1997), drug use, suicidal
intentions, and crime (Fergusson, Horwood, & Wood-
ward, 2001).
The studies coming from Lithuania argue that there
are some elements of the culture of poverty among the
unemployed in the country. Jatuliene, Cepiene, Kali-
batas, Andriuska, and Pikciunas (2003) (2003) evalu-
ated attitudes of the unemployed in Lithuania toward
their quality of life. According to this referenced study,
the majority of persons who had lost their jobs evalu-
ated their health and quality of life as poor or very
poor. Moreover, more then 70% of respondents had
very pessimistic feelings regarding their futures (Jatu-
liene et al., 2003). Furthermore, during the most rapid
increase of unemployment, changes in the age struc-
ture of the unemployed were observed. From 1996 to
2006, there was a sharp increase in the unemployment
rate among people aged 35–54 years (Caglar, Acar, &
Pamuk, 2007). The problem of unemployment among
this age group increased because a majority of people
of preretirement or retirement age were forced to leave
their jobs (Kalediene & Petrauskiene, 2004). Possibly,
the frustration of losing work or an absence of work
was the factor influencing higher suicides rates for this
age group (WHO, 2013). Unemployed individuals of
this generation might have very strong feelings of
powerlessness, inferiority, and personal unworthiness.
According to Lewis, these are the key elements of the

culture of poverty. Here, it is predicted that these fac-
tors could have influenced the expressed depression
and high suicide rates among the unemployed (Lewis,
1969). The further development of knowledge/ con-
ceptualization about poverty and culture is considered.
In particular, the idealistic interpretation of culture as
related to poverty is discussed. (Gajdosikiene, 2004).
Many studies do not link “unemployment—culture of
poverty—poor mental health” (Hannan, Riain, &
Whelan, 1997; Platt, 1984). For instance, Platt’s study
showed that people living in places with low levels of
unemployment have been found to be more likely to
commit suicide than people living elsewhere (Platt,
1984; Explaining Patterns of Suicide, 2005). Also, an
ecological study in England, examining trends in the
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1980s, showed that places with the greatest increase in
unemployment had the smallest increase in suicide
(Crawford & Prince, 1999).
The findings of this study and the results of the ref-
erenced studies all support the existence of a specific
phenomenon known as “a culture of poverty” among
the unemployed in Turkey. To further understand the
relationship between a culture of poverty and unem-
ployment and its effect on mental health requires fur-
ther long-term evaluation. Qualitative information
that can help examine individual responses and the
meanings of these responses will provide a better
understanding of this phenomenon. Future studies
should seek to identify individual concerns such as
developing a sense of coherence, and how to avoid
feelings of shame, thereby increasing the ability to
cope. Meanwhile, this study can serve as background
research for an in-depth analysis of unemployment
and mental health associations in Turkey.
Conclusions
This study adds to the growing evidence outlining an
association between unemployment and decreased
levels of life satisfaction as evidenced by feelings of
depression. Results indicate that depression is more
prevalent among the long-term unemployed than
among others. Being female and older and having a
large number of unemployment episodes have a sig-
nificant effect on the development of depression, while
being educated, having a good income, and having
social insurance reduce the risk. The fact that a con-
siderable proportion of unemployed people experience
long-term unemployment makes this problem even
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SERVICE RESEARCH 7
more severe. Collective actions should be facilitated to
address the challenges of psychological and social
adaptability in cases of unemployment. Improvement
could be achieved by placing pressure on the govern-
ment, municipal authorities, and health services to
take action regarding the health of the unemployed.
Among the many opportunities to achieve this goal is
an investment in human capital, redistributive poli-
cies, and the ensuring of comprehensive access to
health care. The mental health of the unemployed
should receive serious attention in health policy devel-
opment in Turkey. Despite limited resources, mental
health could be improved, not only through health-
care services but also through social reforms.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank all retired unemployed people who partici-
pated in this study. We thank all those who cooperated in this
research, including Mugla Governorship and Mugla Employ-
ment Services .
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