In a study carried out in France, the unemployed stood out from the working population by significantly higher levels of psychoactive substance use.
Regular or problematic consumption of psychoactive substances is more frequent among job seekers than among employed workers. This is the conclusion of the latest Weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH) published this Tuesday.
This study carried out by epidemiologists from the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS) consisted of an analysis of data from the 2010 Health Barometer. This is a national survey conducted among a large representative sample of the French population, concerning the uses of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis.
As a result, whatever the professional situation, the prevalence of psychoactive substance use was found to be higher among men than among women. In addition, the unemployed stood out from the employed by their significantly higher levels of psychoactive substance use. Thus, in 2010, 51% of them declared to smoke daily (against 33.5% of the employed), 25% had a risky alcohol consumption (against 15%) and 6% declared a regular consumption of cannabis ( against 2%).
Stress management
For the authors of the work, the link between unemployment and the use of psychoactive substances corresponds to several well-described situations (1). “The unemployment situation can be at the origin of an increase in the use of psychoactive substances for the purpose of stress and mood management, this reason being in part a construction of working-class circles”, they write.
In addition, they warn about the risk that the use of psychoactive substances “can sometimes make it more difficult to find a job or encourage job loss, either by modifying the behavior they generate, for alcohol or cannabis in particular, or in connection with the occurrence of diseases ”.
Finally, the populations most likely to consume psychoactive substances could also be the most likely to experience unemployment in connection with third-party factors such as: “preference for the present or a difficulty in projecting oneself into the future, some forms of risk denial at least demonstrated concerning smoking or, more directly, the fact of having been a victim of violence ”.
Towards a partnership with Pôle emploi
Faced with this observation, these epidemiologists propose to reduce these inequalities “by preventive interventions specifically benefiting job seekers and taking into account the difficulties of this population overexposed to addictive practices, for example through a partnership with Pôle emploi”, advise -they.
And they conclude: “Whatever the nature of the link between unemployment and the use of psychoactive substances, the population of job seekers is indeed identifiable and accessible for a preventive offer”.
As a reminder, in France, the unemployment rate has been increasing since 2008, in connection with the slowdown in economic activity that the country has experienced since that date. In the first quarter of 2016, job seekers registered with Pôle Emploi thus represented around 10% of the working population in mainland France.
(1) Schmitz H. Why are the unemployed in worse health? The causal effect of unemployment on health. Labor Economics. 2011; 18 (1): 71-8.
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