Job insecurity and mental health: A meta-analytical review of the consequences of precarious work in clinical disorders

Abstract Faced with the growing instability resulting from the world economic crisis, job insecurity gains relevance in the study of occupational health. In order to analyse the consequences of job insecurity on mental health, a reference document is provided including the empirical research advances in the current framework. This systematic review follows a meta-analytical technique through 56 independent samples with 53,405 participants in total. The analysis offers a significant correlation between subjective job insecurity and mental health. Thus, it has been found that job insecurity is related to the risk or presence of depression, anxiety and emotional exhaustion, as well as to general low satisfaction with life, international comparisons are made, and negative results among workers regardless of the economic situation of the countries are highlighted, too. Moreover, methodological and conceptual contributions have been made in terms of the quality of the metrics applied. Job insecurity appears as a major problem for workers’ mental health, generating devastating effects on all kind of professional profiles and economic contexts.