Background: This study investigated variations in psychological distress in a large sample of the Canadian population according to employment status, occupation, work organization conditions, reasons for non-employment, stress and support outside the work environment, family situation and individual characteristics.
Methods: Data came from cycle 4 (2000–1) of the Canadian National Population Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. Multiple regression analyses, adjusted for the family situation, the level of support from the social network and the individual characteristics, were carried out on a sample of 7258 individuals aged from 18 to 65 years.
Results: Occupation, social support at work, age, self-esteem, presence of children aged five and under and social support outside of the workplace were associated with lower levels of psychological distress, while permanent and temporary disability, psychological demands in the workplace, job insecurity, female gender, and stressful financial, marital and parental situations were related to higher levels of psychological distress.
Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that, in terms of psychological distress, having a job is not always better than non-employment, and that specific non-employment situations associate differently with psychological distress.