The transition from university to work: what happens to mental health? A longitudinal study

BMC Psychology

Table 4 Factors associated with GHQ-12 case-level psychological distress 3 years into the students’ professional work lives

	Total sample (n = 773)		Healthcare (n = 357)		Teachers (n = 228)		Social workers (n = 188)
	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Independent variables
GHQ-12 Likert score as student	1.06**	1.02–1.10	1.12***	1.05–1.19	1.03	0.95–1.11	1.04	0.96–1.14
Age	1.01	0.98–1.05	1.06*	1.00–1.12	0.96	0.90–1.02	1.03	0.97–1.09
Gender	0.72	0.37–1.38	0.36	0.10–1.34	1.20	0.47–3.08	0.21	0.02–1.82
Civil status	0.93	0.59–1.47	1.33	0.61–2.90	0.54	0.24–1.20	1.03	0.40–2.66
Confidence	1.14	0.82–1.57	1.63	0.89–2.96	0.89	0.51–1.57	1.05	0.58–1.88
Theoretical understanding	0.79	0.54–1.14	0.85	0.45–1.60	0.83	0.40–1.70	0.88	0.44–1.75
Methodical aspects	1.23	0.86–1.76	1.33	0.70–2.53	0.75	0.40–1.43	1.43	0.70–2.93
Demand	1.13**	1.04–1.22	1.13	0.99–1.29	1.10	0.92–1.31	1.10	0.94–1.29
Control	1.02	0.95–1.09	1.11	0.99–1.25	0.96	0.84–1.09	1.01	0.87–1.16
Support	0.98	0.94–1.03	0.93	0.85–1.01	1.05	0.97–1.14	0.94	0.87–1.03
Global quality of life	0.34***	0.27–0.44	0.29***	0.20–0.43	0.24***	0.14–0.41	0.42***	0.27–0.65
Adjusted model parameters
Model χ²	150.62***		87.81***		57.88***		34.69***
Nagelkerke R²	0.29		0.38		0.35		0.28
Cox & Snell R²	0.18		0.22		0.22		0.17
Hosmer-Lemeshow χ²	7.71		7.22		6.35		6.40

Effect sizes are standardized β weights. General Health Likert Questionnaire (GHQ-12) is scored 0–36, with higher scores indicating more psychological distress; female = 1, male = 2; not married/partner = 1, married/partner = 2 (civil status); professional role variables are scored from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely); psychosocial work environment variables are scored as higher scores indicating higher levels of job demand, personal control, and experienced support; global quality of life is scored as higher scores indicating higher quality of life
***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05

ISSN: 2050-7283