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Health inequalities during school-to-work transitions among young adults: Mapping the evidence
(2020)
Background
School-to-work transition is a sensitive period that can have a substantial impact on health over the life course. Previous studies suggest pronounced health inequalities during this period but little is known about the determinants at the individual, meso- and macro-levels. We aim to further elucidate possible health inequalities during school-to-work transitions with a focus on multilevel determinants, e.g. evidence on potential effects of contextual and compositional factors of specific institutions involved.
Methods
We are currently conducting a scoping review (funded by the German Research Foundation) to map the evidence on the above mentioned topic among young adults (aged 16-24 years), following the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and ÓMalley and PRISMA. The literature search was performed in Ovid MEDLINE, Web of Science, ILO and NIOSH, using sensitive search strategy developed by text-analysis. Only articles published between January 2000 - February 2020 and written in English or German are considered. The selection process is conducted following a two-step approach:1) screening of titles and abstracts 2) screening of full-texts by two independent reviewers. Any discrepancies in the selection process are resolved by a third researcher.
Preliminary Results
Following the five stages of the methodological framework, the scoping review is currently in stage 3 (study selection-screening phase). We found 25,069 potentially relevant articles in our primary search. 15,508 articles remained after the duplicates were removed. Up to now, 8,825 papers were screened of which 7,629 were excluded and 1,176 included which qualified for full-text reading. Complete results of the scoping review will be presented at the conference.
Conclusions
This scoping review will improve our knowledge about the emergence and development of health inequalities during school-to-work transitions by examining health of individuals in different institutional contexts.
Key messages
- Improving our knowledge of health inequalities during school-to-work transitions.
- the role of determinants at the individual, meso- and macro-levels during this stage will also be examined.
Einleitung Zielsetzung des Beitrags ist es, zu untersuchen, inwiefern die sozioökonomische Komposition von Schulen mit dem Wohlbefinden von Schülerinnen und Schülern in Deutschland assoziiert ist. Konkret wurden die Assoziationen der Bildung, des Einkommens und des beruflichen Status der Eltern auf Individualebene und aggregiert auf Schulebene sowie die Interaktionen zwischen diesen Ebenen auf das subjektive Wohlbefinden von Schülern der Sekundarstufe I untersucht.
Methoden Es wurden Daten der Startkohorte „Klasse 5“ des Nationalen Bildungspanels (NEPS) herangezogen. Die Kohorte startete 2010 mit einer repräsentativen Stichprobe von Fünftklässlern in Deutschland, welche jährlich nachverfolgt wurden. Es wurden Erhebungswellen von der fünften bis zur neunten Klasse zusammengefasst. Damit konnten 14.265 Beobachtungen mit vollständigen Angaben von 3.977 Schülerinnen und Schülern in 218 Schulen in den Analysen berücksichtigt werden. Mit Mixed-Models wurde getestet, ob die sozioökonomische Position auf individueller und/oder schulischer Ebene und die ebenenübergreifende Interaktion dieser Indikatoren mit dem Wohlbefinden (adaptierter Personal Well-Being – School Children-Index) der Jugendlichen assoziiert ist. Es wurde für Alter, Geschlecht, Migrationshintergrund, Familienform, Schultyp und Notendurchschnitt kontrolliert.
Ergebnisse Auf individueller Ebene war das elterliche Einkommen mit höherem Wohlbefinden verbunden. Der berufliche Status der Eltern zeigte keine signifikanten Assoziationen. Auf Schulebene fanden wir einen geringen, positiven Zusammenhang zwischen dem durchschnittlichen elterlichen Einkommen und dem individuellen Wohlbefinden, aber auch einen mäßig negativen Einfluss eines hohen Anteils hoch gebildeter Eltern auf das Wohlbefinden. In Sensitivitätsanalysen blieben diese Zusammenhänge auch bei separater Betrachtung dieser Indikatoren bestehen. Die Zusammenhänge auf Individualebene wurden nicht durch die sozioökonomische Komposition von Schulen moderiert, es konnten keine signifikanten ebenenübergreifende Interaktionen festgestellt werden.
Schlussfolgerung Es wurde ein Zusammenhang der sozioökonomischen Zusammensetzung der Schule mit dem subjektiven Wohlbefinden der Jugendlichen gefunden. Internationale Befunde einer Moderation der Zusammenhänge auf individueller Ebene durch sozioökonomische Charakteristika auf Schulebene konnten jedoch nicht repliziert werden. Die Zusammenhänge zwischen individueller SEP und Wohlbefinden variieren somit nicht in Abhängigkeit von der SEP auf Schulebene. Es zeigen sich vielmehr in Teilen additive Effekte für die individuelle und schulische SEP.
Research suggests that children of low-educated parents face greater health burdens during the passage from adolescence to young adulthood, as they are more likely to become low-educated themselves, establish behavioural and psychosocial disadvantages, or being exposed to unhealthy working conditions. However, studies examining the development and drivers of health inequalities during this particular life stage are limited in number and have produced varied results. This study investigates trajectories of self-rated health and overweight from 14 to 25 years of age, stratified by parental education, and explores the role of potential mediators (educational achievement, health behaviours, psychosocial factors, working conditions). We rely on prospective cohort data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), a representative sample of 14,981 German ninth graders interviewed yearly from 2011 to 2021 (n = 90,096 person-years). First, we estimated random-effects growth curves for self-rated health and overweight over participants’ age and calculated the average marginal effect of high versus low parental education. Second, a series of simulation-based mediation analyses were
performed to test how much of health inequalities were explained by children’s educational attainment (years of school education, years in university), health behaviours (smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity), psychosocial factors (number of grade repetitions, years in unemployment, chronic stress, self-esteem) and working conditions (physical and psychosocial job demands). We accounted for potential confounding by controlling for age, sex, migration background, residential area, household composition, and interview mode. Results show that higher parental education was related to higher self-rated health and lower probabilities of being overweight. Interaction between parental education and age indicated that, after some equalisation in late adolescence, health inequalities increased in young adulthood. Furthermore, educational attainment, health behaviours, psychosocial factors, and early-career working conditions played a significant role in mediating health inequalities. Of the variables examined, the level of school education and years spent in university were particular strong mediating factors. School education accounted for around one-third of the inequalities in self-rated health and one-fifth of the differences in overweight among individuals. Results support the idea that the transition to adulthood is a sensitive period in life and that early socio-economic adversity increases the likelihood to accumulate health disadvantages in multiple dimensions. In Germany, a country with comparatively low educational mobility, intergenerational continuities in class location seem to play a key role in the explanation of health inequalities in
youth.
Objectives The main objective was to systematically map evidence regarding the emergence of health inequalities in individuals aged 16–24 years during school-to-work and school-to-university transition (STWT). Second, we aimed to summarise the evidence on potential effects of contextual and compositional characteristics of specific institutional contexts entered during STWT on health and health behaviours.
Design Scoping review.
Study selection Relevant literature was systematically searched following the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. Ovid MEDLINE and Web of Science, and websites of the International Labour Organization and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were searched, using a predetermined search strategy. Articles in English or German published between 1 January 2000 and 3 February 2020 were considered.
Data extraction To collect the main information from the selected studies, a data extraction spreadsheet was created. Data were summarised and grouped into five health outcomes and five institutional contexts (school, vocational training, university, work, unemployment).
Results A total of 678 articles were screened for inclusion. To be able to draw a picture of the development of various health outcomes over time, we focused on longitudinal studies. Forty-six prospective studies mapping health-related outcomes during STWT were identified. Higher family socioeconomic position (SEP) was associated with higher levels of health behaviour and lower levels of health-damaging behaviour, but there was also some evidence pointing in the opposite direction. Disadvantaged family SEP negatively impacted on mental health and predicted an adverse weight development. There was limited evidence for the outcomes physical/somatic symptoms and self-rated health. Meso-level characteristics of the institutional contexts identified were not systematically assessed, only individual-level factors resulting from an exposure to these contexts, rendering an analysis of effects of contextual and compositional characteristics on health and health behaviours impossible.
Conclusions This scoping review demonstrated a wide range of health inequalities during STWT for various health outcomes. However, knowledge on the role of the core institutional contexts regarding the development of health inequalities is limited.
Objective
Few studies have investigated health inequalities among young workers. The objectives of this study are to assess the extent of health inequalities in a sample of job starters and to explore the contribution of job demands and organisational factors.
Methods
We analyze data from the BIBB/BAuA Youth Employment Survey 2012. The cross-sectional survey includes a representative sample of 3214 German employees, apprentices, and trainees aged 15–24 years. Individuals were grouped by their years of schooling into low (< 12 years) and high levels of education (≥ 12 years). Regression analysis estimated the link between education and four health outcomes: self-rated health, number of health events, musculoskeletal symptoms, and mental health problems over the last 12 months. Counterfactual mediation analysis tested for indirect effects of education via working conditions (i.e., physical and psychosocial job demands) and company characteristics (i.e., company size, health prevention measures, financial situation, downsizing). All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, nationality, region, working hours, job tenure, employment relationship, and economic sector.
Results
Highly educated workers reported better self-rated health (b = 0.24, 95% CI 0.18–0.31) and lower numbers of health events (Rate Ratio (RR) = 0.74, 95% CI 0.67–0.82), musculoskeletal symptoms (RR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.66–0.80) and mental health problems (RR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.76–0.93). Total job demands explained between 21.6% and 87.2% of the educational differences (depending on health outcome). Unfavourable company characteristics were associated with worse health, but showed no or only small mediation effects.
Conclusions
Health inequalities are already present at the early working career due to socio-economically stratified working hazards. To enhance prevention measures that aim at reducing inequalities in workplace health, we propose shifting attention towards earlier stages of life.
Background: At the end of secondary education, young people can either start vocational training, enter university, directly transition to employment or become unemployed. Research assumes that post-secondary pathways have immediate and/or long-term impacts on health and well-being, but empirical investigations on this are scarce and
restricted to few countries. Therefore, this study traced the development of health and well-being throughout the highly institutionalised school-to-work transition (STWT) in Germany.
Methods: We used longitudinal data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), a representative sample of 11,098 school-leavers (50.5% girls) repeatedly interviewed between 2011 and 2020. We estimated the effect of post-secondary transitions on self-rated health and subjective well-being by applying fixed-effects (FE) regression, elimi-nating bias resulting from time-constant confounding and self-selection into different pathways. A multiple-sample strategy was used to account for the increasing diversity of STWTs patterns. Models were controlled for age, as well as household and residential changes to minimise temporal heterogeneity. Results: Findings indicate that leaving school was good for health and well-being. Compared with participants who did not find a training position after school, direct transitions to vocational training or university were linked to higher
absolute levels of health and well-being, but also to a lower relative decline over time. Furthermore, upward transi-tions (e.g. to programs leading to better education or from unemployment to employment) were associated with improvements in health and well-being, while downward transitions were followed by deteriorations. Conclusion: Findings suggest that school-leave is a sensitive period and that post-secondary pathways provide young people with different abilities to maintain health and well-being. Youth health interventions might benefit when setting a stronger focus on unsuccessful school-leavers.