Zum gesellschaftlich relevanten Thema des Arbeitsmarktes findet sich kaum arbeitspsychologische Empirie. Erste Hinweise auf ein die Gesundheit Erwerbstätiger gefährdendes Potenzial einer schlechten Arbeitsmarktlage geben Studien aus den Bereichen der Freiwilligkeit in der Erwerbsarbeit und der Arbeitsplatzunsicherheit. Alle diese Studien sind jedoch Befragungen mit dem methodenimmanenten Interpretationsproblem der gemeinsamen Methodenvarianz. Unter Ausschluss dieses Methodenproblems wird zunächst ein Beitrag zur Klärung der Bedeutung der Arbeitsmarktsituation für die psychische Gesundheit Erwerbstätiger geleistet. In einem zweiten Schritt werden empirisch bewährte Merkmale der Arbeitssituation in die Analysen einbezogen. Den theoretischen Rahmen der Arbeit bilden das Belastungs-Beanspruchungs-Konzept (BBK) und ein spezifiziertes Zwei-Ebenen-Modell. Sekundäranalytisch werden zweier branchenspezifische Gelegenheitsstichproben (N1 = 183; N2 = 314) und die repräsentative BIBB/IAB-Strukturerhebung von 1998/1999 (N3 = 34.343) ausgewertet. Es liegt ein ex-post-facto-Design vor. Das Merkmal der Arbeitsmarktsituation wird als Risiko langzeitarbeitslos zu werden operationalisiert und dokumentenanalytisch generiert. Diese Operationalisierung erweist sich als valide. Die anderen Merkmale werden mittels schriftlicher Befragungen erhoben. Die Datenauswertung erfolgt mit Methoden des ALM. Die globalen Zusammenhänge zwischen der Arbeitsmarktsituation und der psychischen Gesundheit Erwerbstätiger sind marginal. Bei Betrachtung der mit Hilfe des BBK gebildeten Subgruppen zeigen sich jedoch hypothesenkonform veränderte Zusammenhänge. Dieses Ergebnismuster kann im Sinne des sozialepidemiologischen Risikofaktorenmodells als Beleg für das Belastungspotenzial einer schlechten Arbeitsmarktsituation angesehen werden. Zentral für die Vorhersage der psychischen Gesundheit Erwerbstätiger sind jedoch die Merkmale der Arbeitssituation: Auch in Zeiten mit einer problematischen Arbeitsmarktsituation reicht es nicht aus, einfach nur Arbeit zu haben. Die konkrete Arbeitssituation bleibt zentral. / Within the field of occupational psychology there is very little empirical research on the socially highly relevant topic of the labor market. Studies on voluntariness within gainful occupation and on job insecurity have provided initial evidence that a poor labor market situation poses a potential risk to employees’ health. However, all of these studies can be criticized for having the method-immanent interpretation problem of shared method variance. Excluding this methodological problem, the present study, first, contributes to clarifying the role of the labor market situation for employees’ mental health. In a second step, empirically established characteristics of the personal job situation are included in the analyses. The theoretical framework for this research is the stress-strain concept (SSC) and a more specific two-level model. Secondary analyses are conducted with two sectoral convenience samples (N1 = 183; N2 = 314) and the representative BIBB/IAB data set of 1998/1999 (N3 = 34.343). An ex-post-facto design is used. The characteristic of the labor market situation was operationalized as the risk for long-term unemployment, which was generated through document analyses. This operationalization proves to be valid. Other characteristics were assessed with questionnaires. Data analyses were conducted with methods of the GLM. The overall relations between the labor market situation and mental health are marginal. However, when studying subgroups that were formed utilizing the SSC the observed relations vary as hypothesized. These findings can be interpreted within the social-epidemiological risk-factor model as a demonstration of the stress potential of poor labor market conditions. Nevertheless, the central predictors of employees’ mental health are characteristics of the personal job situation: Even in times of a problematic labor market situation just being employed it is not sufficient to ensure good mental health. The person’s specific job situation remains central.

The present study examined the relationships between COVID-related stress, mental health and professional burnout in the infant and early child mental health (IECMH) workforce and examined reflective supervision and consultation (RSC) as a potential protective factor in the context of COVID-related stress. Participants included 123 adults (n = 121 female, modal age range 30-39 years) in the TN IECMH workforce (mean years of experience = 13.6 years) surveyed in June/July 2020. Sector representation was quite varied (home visiting, childcare, child welfare, early intervention). Results indicated the majority (63%) of the sample was caring for someone else (e.g., child or elderly person) while working at home, 46% of the sample had depression symptoms (18% in the moderate-severe range), and 75% of the sample had anxiety symptoms (33% in the moderate-severe range). Higher COVID stress was associated with higher internalizing symptoms and burnout levels and this relationship was mediated by self-care behaviors such that the more COVID stress one reported, the fewer self-care behaviors they engaged in, and the higher the risk for internalizing and burnout. Finally, the pathway from COVID stress to self-care behaviors was moderated by RSC. IECMH professionals who received less than 1 year (or no experience) of RSC showed a significant decrease in self-care behaviors during times of low, average and high levels of COVID stress compared to those who received 1 year or more of RSC. Implications for both policy and practice will be discussed.