IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0284088.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Losing ground in the field: An exploratory analysis of the relationship between work and mental health amongst women in conflict affected Democratic Republic of the Congo

Author

Listed:
  • Julia Vaillant
  • Naira Kalra
  • Alev Gurbuz Cuneo
  • Léa Rouanet

Abstract

Background: Conflict affected populations, in particular women in such settings, face an increased risk of developing mental health disorders as well as well as economic vulnerability and reduced productivity. However, the link between the two has rarely been studied. Data and methods: The data in this paper come from a cross-sectional dataset (n = 1053) and a panel dataset of (n = 499) women suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This paper investigates the association between mental health disorders (PTSD, depression and/or anxiety) and employment for women in a conflict-affected setting. Results: The study finds that worsened local functioning is associated with reduced likelihood of working, earnings, and engagement in paid work. Reduction in probable depression and/or anxiety and PTSD are both associated with increased likelihood of engaging in paid work compared to unpaid work. Reduction in probable depression and/or anxiety is also associated with engaging in a secondary economic activity, as well as with higher productivity. However, when controlling for daily (local) functioning impairment, the primary pathway through which mental health may impact working, we detect a positive relationship between work or working hours and increased symptoms of PTSD and depression and/or anxiety. Working women with worse PTSD and depression and/or anxiety symptoms are also less likely to be self-employed, especially in an off-farm setting, and more likely to be engaged in farming. Conclusion: A complex relationship between working and mental health emerges. Our findings also suggest that in this population farming, particularly farm-based wage work, is positively associated with worse mental health even after accounting for wealth and other relevant socio-demographic factors. These findings highlight the importance of paying close attention to the mental health of beneficiaries of livelihood support projects in post-conflict settings, where the relationship between mental health and employment is not straightforward.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Vaillant & Naira Kalra & Alev Gurbuz Cuneo & Léa Rouanet, 2023. "Losing ground in the field: An exploratory analysis of the relationship between work and mental health amongst women in conflict affected Democratic Republic of the Congo," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(4), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0284088
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284088
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284088
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0284088&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0284088?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jessica Hagen‐Zanker & Martina Ulrichs & Rebecca Holmes, 2018. "What are the effects of cash transfers for refugees in the context of protracted displacement? Findings from Jordan," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(2), pages 57-77, April.
    2. Sophie Mitra & Kristine Jones, 2017. "The impact of recent mental health changes on employment: new evidence from longitudinal data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 96-109, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tina Zintl & Markus Loewe, 2022. "More than the Sum of Its Parts: Donor-Sponsored Cash-for-Work Programmes and Social Cohesion in Jordanian Communities Hosting Syrian Refugees," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(3), pages 1285-1307, June.
    2. Tamim, Abdulrazzak & Smith, Emma & Palmer, I. Bailey & Miguel, Edward & Oparina, Ekaterina & Rozo, Sandra V. & Stillman, Sarah, 2025. "Housing Subsidies for Refugees: Experimental Evidence on Life Outcomes and Social Integration in Jordan," IZA Discussion Papers 17622, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pinna Pintor, Matteo & Fumagalli, Elena & Suhrcke, Marc, 2024. "The impact of health on labour market outcomes: A rapid systematic review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    4. A Stefano Caria & Grant Gordon & Maximilian Kasy & Simon Quinn & Soha Osman Shami & Alexander Teytelboym, 2024. "An Adaptive Targeted Field Experiment: Job Search Assistance for Refugees in Jordan," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 781-836.
    5. Gupta, Prankur & Stein, Daniel & Longman, Kyla & Lanthorn, Heather & Bergmann, Rico & Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel & Rutto, Noel & Kahura, Christine & Kananu, Winfred & Posner, Gabrielle & Zhao, K.J. & , 2024. "Cash transfers amid shocks: A large, one-time, unconditional cash transfer to refugees in Uganda has multidimensional benefits after 19 months," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    6. Mark L Bryan & Nigel Rice & Jennifer Roberts & Cristina Sechel, 2022. "Mental Health and Employment: A Bounding Approach Using Panel Data," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(5), pages 1018-1051, October.
    7. Cheng, Zhiming & Wang, Ben Zhe & Jiang, Zhou & Taksa, Lucy & Tani, Massimiliano, 2020. "English Skills and Early Labour Market Integration: Evidence from Humanitarian Migrants in Australia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 672, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Kirsten Schuettler, 2020. "Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons," World Bank Publications - Reports 34767, The World Bank Group.
    9. Natasha V. Pilkauskas & Brian A. Jacob & Elizabeth Rhodes & Katherine Richard & H. Luke Shaefer, 2023. "The COVID Cash Transfer Study: The Impacts of a One‐Time Unconditional Cash Transfer on the Well‐Being of Families Receiving SNAP in Twelve States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 771-795, June.
    10. Björn Nilsson, 2017. "Parental depressive symptoms and the child labor-schooling nexus: evidence from Mexico," Working Papers DT/2017/06, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    11. Ringdal, Charlotte & Rootjes, Frank, 2022. "Depression and labor supply: Evidence from the Netherlands," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    12. Ludovico Carrino & Karen Glaser & Mauricio Avendano, 2020. "Later retirement, job strain, and health: Evidence from the new State Pension age in the United Kingdom," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(8), pages 891-912, August.
    13. Robson, Matthew & Vollmer, Frank & Doğan, Basak Berçin & Grede, Nils, 2024. "Distributional impacts of cash transfers on the multidimensional poverty of refugees: The Emergency Social Safety Net in Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. Diby, Akissi S. & Lengagne, Pascale & Regaert, Camille, 2021. "Employment Vulnerability of People With Severe Mental Illness," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 269-275.
    15. Bryan, M.; & Roberts, J.; & Sechel, C.;, 2019. "The Effect of Mental Health on Employment:Accounting for Selection Bias," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 19/14, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    16. Hasmin Tamsah & Gunawan Bata Ilyas & Jumiaty Nurung & Yusriadi Yusriadi, 2023. "Model Testing and Contribution of Antecedent Variable to Absolute Poverty: Low Income Family Perspective in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    17. Elena Lagomarsino & Alessandro Spiganti, 2020. "No gain in pain: psychological well-being, participation, and wages in the BHPS," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(9), pages 1375-1389, December.
    18. Cheng, Zhiming & Wang, Ben Zhe & Jiang, Zhou & Taksa, Lucy & Tani, Massimiliano, 2020. "English Skills and Early Labour Market Integration of Humanitarian Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 13728, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Carrino, Ludovico & Glaser, Karen & Avendano, Mauricio, 2018. "Later Pension, Poorer Health? Evidence from the New State Pension Age in the UK," MPRA Paper 87575, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Kian, Ramez & Erdoğan, Güneş & de Leeuw, Sander & Sibel Salman, F. & Sabet, Ehsan & Kara, Bahar Y. & Demir, Muhittin H., 2022. "Logistics planning of cash transfer to Syrian refugees in Turkey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 296(3), pages 1007-1024.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0284088. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.