The psychological health and well-being of children working in the brick industry: A comparative study

International audienceHow does arduous work affect child and adolescents' psychological health and well-being? This analysis of a unique four-country data set (915 children working in brick factories and a non-working comparison group of 638 children) sought to understand the nature and extent of psychological differences, if any, between the two groups and to validate an instrument capable of eliciting this information for use in population-based surveys. The instrument, combining variables from child psychology and occupational health, demonstrates a good level of reliability. Factor Analysis confirmed six dimensions of psychosocial well-being relevant to working children: stress, self-esteem, supervision, emotionality, personal security and sense of mistreatment. Multivariate linear regressions were used to statistically model the effect of "working" on these dimensions visa -vis pertinent sociodemographic variables. The results showed Work to be associated with negative outcomes on all the measured dimensions with girls most significantly affected; expected positive effects (e.g. increased selfconfidence associated with work or with assisting the family) were not found. Migration status and workrelated injuries appeared to have little influence. A potentially important finding is that attending school is the one factor that seems to have a mediating or psychologically protective effect. Psychological health is often overlooked because it is invisible and considered too difficult to measure. Yet knowing the nature and severity of the psychological stresses experienced by working children can be critical for designing appropriate interventions (e.g. provision of schools in this case), and may persuade policy-makers to take action more urgently than they might otherwise have done