Annerose Hechler’s scientific contributions

Discusses perspectives on correlations between unemployment and mental health in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), noting that unemployment did not become a topic of social research in the FRG until the mid-1970's. In analyzing the association between unemployment and mental health with the micro approach, researchers in the FRG have mainly used interviews with unemployed workers and controls. Research in the FRG using this approach suggests the following: Physical and mental health should be regarded conceptually as multidimensional, mental health is more vulnerable than physical health in the initial phases of unemployment, and effects of unemployment interact with and are modified by social and financial living conditions. In the larger macro approach, the question to be addressed is whether employment characteristics (e.g., unemployment rate) and health characteristics (e.g., rates of morbidity and mortality) of populations (e.g., nations or states) are associated. In the FRG, unemployment has not been shown to exert an influence on total mortality or on suicide mortality. It is noted that, with regard to research on unemployment and mental health, the most convincing findings will be those for which evidence exists at both the micro and macro level. It is concluded that investigation of relationships among the economy, society, and mental health should be a major task of applied health service research in the FRG. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)