Mental Health Problems and Risky Health Behaviors among Young Individuals in Turkey: The Case of Being NEET.

BACKGROUND: The concept of neither in active employment nor in education and training (NEET) is quite important because it potentially addresses a broad array of vulnerabilities among the young, touching on issues of unemployment, early school leaving, and labor market discouragement. AIMS OF THE STUDY: In this study, we examine the relationship between being NEET and the probability of having mental health problems and risky health behaviors (namely smoking and alcohol consumption), as well as being obese among young individuals in Turkey. This research also aims to investigate the association between mental health problems/risky health behaviors and parental socio-economic status. METHODS: Empirical analyses are conducted by utilizing 2014, 2016, and 2019 rounds of Turkish Health Survey (THS) datasets. We conduct multivariate logit techniques through the analysis. RESULTS: The results suggest that the probability of having mental health problems and the prevalence of obesity increases if the young individual is NEET. In addition, we find that there is no significant association between being NEET and having risky health behaviors if the young individual is inactive NEET. However, our results suggest that both the probability of smoking and alcohol consumption increases for unemployed NEETs. DISCUSSION: To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of evidence of systematically and thoroughly examined associations between mental health/risky health behaviors and NEET status in Turkey, as well as southern European, developing, or Muslim countries with similar socioeconomic levels. In addition, some of the previous studies have concentrated on specific populations such as young individuals living in mental health centers or males in military institutions. Therefore, the group of NEETs participating in this study may be a large representative sample for all NEETs in the population. The main limitation is that our data set is constructed by merging health surveys, it allows for only cross-sectional comparisons and thus it makes it difficult to claim a causal relationship. Thus, future studies may contribute to the literature by employing panel data or making experimental research. IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH POLICIES AND FURTHER RESEARCH: The policies and interventions should be considered to prevent young individuals from becoming NEET and to re-integrate them into society. For instance, creating more education opportunities or programs to facilitate the direct transition from school to the labor market should be the main objective of policymakers. Also, a series of mental health and social skill support programs such as incorporating mental health services into youth career support initiatives can be implemented for increasing youth's confidence and job readiness. The findings on smoking and alcohol consumption point out that policymakers should be careful about the differences between unemployed and inactive NEETs while taking precautions. Finally, young individuals should be informed about the future risks of obesity, and policies such as motivational support programs to improve health and well-being, encouraging weight loss for young obese/overweight individuals should be put forward in Turkey.

Women's socioeconomic status and choice of birth control method: an investigation for the case of Turkey.

This study investigated whether woman's education, labour market status and the status within the household have any impact on their birth control behaviour in Turkey. Empirical analyses were implemented using the 2013 Demographic and Health Survey dataset, which includes information on women's socioeconomic status and their current choice of contraceptives: whether they used any method, and if so, what method they used. Using a bivariate probit model with selection to control for any possible selection bias, the results suggest that whether a woman uses any birth control method, and whether the woman chooses modern methods over traditional methods, are primarily explained by education level and urban/rural residence, and that the determinants of contraceptive use vary across college-educated and non-college-educated women. The results also indicate that non-employed women are less likely to use any birth control method compared with women with regular, full-time jobs. However the effect was statistically insignificant.

Utilization of health-care services by young children: The aftermath of the Turkish Health Transformation Program.

The Turkish Health Transformation Program, initiated in 2003, has identified achieving universal access to health care as 1 of its main tenets. To date, substantial progress has been made toward universal health coverage. Service utilization statistics display an upward trend. In this study, we use official and nationally representative microdata collected by the Turkish Health Research Surveys to examine young children's (ages 0-5) utilization of health services. Children in this age group deserve special attention because adverse health conditions in early childhood are known to have long-time consequences. Policy makers regularly monitor statistics such as infant mortality rate and under-5 mortality rate. We conduct logistic regression analyses to explain the probabilities of being taken to a health institution, to a dentist, and being included in the newborn screening program. We use a rich set of explanatory variables that represent the socioeconomic status (SES) of the child's household. Contrary to our expectations and to the goals of universal health coverage is SES indicators such as the insurance ownership of the parent matter for utilization. Decomposition analyses confirm these findings and reveal that the increase in utilization should have been higher than observed. Children from low SES households should be given special attention and that research efforts should focus on identifying the barriers that still hinder children's utilization of health-care services.