Author:

Keywords:

Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Medicine, General & Internal, General & Internal Medicine, RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED-TRIAL, MENTAL-HEALTH PROBLEM, ANTICIPATED DISCRIMINATION, REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE, DECISION AID, WORK, STIGMA, DISCLOSURE, EMPLOYMENT, ILLNESS, OCCUPATIONAL & INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, discrimination, human development index, stigma, work, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depressive Disorder, Major, Employment, Female, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Multivariate Analysis, Prejudice, Social Stigma, Unemployment, Workplace, ASPEN/INDIGO Study Group*, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1199 Other Medical and Health Sciences, 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences, 42 Health sciences, 52 Psychology

Abstract:

Whereas employment has been shown to be beneficial for people with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) across different cultures, employers' attitudes have been shown to be negative towards workers with MDD. This may form an important barrier to work participation. Today, little is known about how stigma and discrimination affect work participation of workers with MDD, especially from their own perspective. We aimed to assess, in a working age population including respondents with MDD from 35 countries: (1) if people with MDD anticipate and experience discrimination when trying to find or keep paid employment; (2) if participants in high, middle and lower developed countries differ in these respects; and (3) if discrimination experiences are related to actual employment status (ie, having a paid job or not).