Research project The differential impact of occupations on mental health: A population-wide study

Our proposed research focuses on the determinants of mental health problems in the workplace. The main purposes are to: (1) generate a detailed description of differences in mental health across different sectors and occupations, (2) estimate the causal impact of different career paths and career events on individual mental health outcomes, and (3) explore heterogeneity across different demographic groups and types of organizations. 
The first part of the research project focuses on PhD students – a professional category where the prevalence of mental health disorders is estimated to be several times higher than in the general population. We explore if the negative impact of PhD studies on mental health is associated with specific institutional factors (e.g., type of employment contract, gender composition of research fields and ratio of faculty/PhD students) and individual-level factors (e.g., family structure and socioeconomic background). 
The second part of the research project aims to harness the full potential of available population-wide register data to map differences in mental health across sectors, occupations and career paths. We then zoom in on those sectors and occupations where mental health problems are found particularly prevalent, and explore which organizational factors and individual characteristics are associated with mental health problems among employees.