Parental support and adolescentsʹ health in the context of parental employment status

Parental employment status is an important and often overlooked contextual factor that may influence parent–adolescent relationships. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of parental support on adolescents’ health within the context of parental employment status. Data on perceived motherʹs and fatherʹs support, motherʹs and fatherʹs employment status and adolescentsʹ perceived health were collected among 1992 adolescents (mean age 16.9) and analysed using chi-square and logistic regression. Fatherʹs support was significantly more often perceived as low when the father was unemployed, while the perception of motherʹs support did not differ in regards to the motherʹs employment. Among those with an unemployed father, motherʹs support appeared protective for adolescentsʹ health, while when a mother was unemployed, fatherʹs support was more strongly associated with good health. Our results suggest that in the case of unemployment of one parent, support from the other parent may be more important for children.