Psychological Effects of Youth Unemployment in Ghana: A Case Study of the Greater Accra Region

Abstract

This study investigated the psychological effects of youth unemployment in Ghana and the buffering role of religiosity and social support. Youths within the ages of 18 and 35 years in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana constituted the research population. A sample of 362 youths were purposively selected for the study. They comprised both the employed (n=172) and the unemployed (n=190). The employed youths served as a control group for comparative analyses. The cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. Standardized measures were used to assess psychological health in terms of depression, cognitive distortions, self-esteem, and suicidality. The Pearson r test, the Linear Regression test, and the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) test were used to analyze the data. The findings showed poorer psychological health among unemployed youths than employed youths. Duration of unemployment significantly predicted poorer psychological health among the youths. Religiosity moderated the psychological effects of youth unemployment except for depression. However, social support predicted but did not moderate the psychological effects of youth unemployment. The findings and their implications are discussed with references to the existing literature and theories.