[Health and quality of life within the context of unemployment and job worries].

Unemployment is associated with mental and physical complaints. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of frequency and duration of unemployment experiences in a representative sample of the German general population. In total, 2426 persons were interviewed about their employment biography and they answered the following questionnaires: Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), Questionnaire of life satisfaction (FLZ) and Zerssen-Complaints-List (B-LR). Unemployed persons reported significantly more anxiety, depression, health complaints and reduced life. The operationalisation of unemployment about the frequency or the duration did not matter. Severe worries about one's job have a similar impact as the experience of unemployment. Especially persons with a longer duration or frequent experiences of unemployment are at risk for higher burden, whereas a single or short time experience of unemployment can rather be compensated. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.