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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1490004
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental Health of Vulnerable Groups: Predictors, Mechanisms, and Interventions View all 10 articles

Mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between unemployment and mental distress among healthcare graduates during the COVID-19 era

Provisionally accepted
Lea John Lea John 1,2*Maria Teresa Solís-Soto Maria Teresa Solís-Soto 1,3Katja Radon Katja Radon 1,2
  • 1 Institute and Polyclinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, LMU Munich University Hospital, München, Bavaria, Germany
  • 2 CIHLMU Center for International Health, LMU Munich University Hospital, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
  • 3 OH TARGET Competence Center, Universidad San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, Sucre, Bolivia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigates the mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between unemployment and mental distress among young healthcare graduates in Bolivia during the COVID-19 pandemic.A cross-sectional analysis within a cohort study was conducted using data from 109 healthcare graduates from Bolivia collected through an online survey in 2022. The survey measured employment status, mental distress with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and perceived social support using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Mediation analysis was performed in R to examine the mediating effect of perceived social support on the relationship between unemployment and mental distress.More than two-thirds of participants reported mental distress. Consistent with the main effect model, employment was directly associated with lower levels of mental distress, and perceived social support was positively related to better mental health. However, perceived social support did not statistically significant mediate the impact of unemployment on mental distress, with only 2.1% of the effect being mediated through perceived social support.

    Keywords: perceived social support, Unemployment, mental distress, Healthcare graduates, COVID-19, Mediation analysis

    Received: 02 Sep 2024; Accepted: 17 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 John, Solís-Soto and Radon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lea John, Institute and Polyclinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, LMU Munich University Hospital, München, 80336, Bavaria, Germany

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