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A scoping review of research on mental health conditions among young construction workers

Samuel Frimpong (School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
Riza Yosia Sunindijo (School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
Cynthia Changxin Wang (School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
Elijah Frimpong Boadu (School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and Civil Engineering Department, Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana)
Ayirebi Dansoh (Department of Construction Technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana)
Rasaki Kolawole Fagbenro (School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)

Construction Innovation

ISSN: 1471-4175

Article publication date: 24 October 2023

165

Abstract

Purpose

Current research on mental health in the construction industry is fragmented, making it difficult to obtain a complete picture of young construction workers’ mental health conditions. This situation adversely affects research progress, mental health-care planning and resource allocation. To address this challenge, the purpose of this paper was to identify the themes of mental health conditions among young construction workers and their prevalence by geographical location.

Design/methodology/approach

The scoping review was conducted using meta-aggregation, guided by the CoCoPop (condition [mental health], context [construction industry] and population [construction workers 35 years old and younger]) and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews) frameworks.

Findings

A total of 327 studies were retrieved, and 14 studies published between 1993 and 2022 met the inclusion criteria. The authors identified 13 mental health conditions and categorized them under nine themes. Mood disorders, anxiety disorders and substance-related disorders constituted the most researched themes. Studies predominantly focused on young male workers in the Global North. The prevalence estimates reported in most of the studies were above the respective country’s prevalence.

Originality/value

This review extends previous studies by focusing specifically on the themes of mental health conditions and giving attention to young construction workers whose health needs remain a global priority. The study emphasizes the need to give research attention to lesser-studied aspects of mental health, such as positive mental health. The need to focus on female construction workers and on homogenous sub-groups of young workers is also emphasized. The findings can guide future systematic reviews on the identified thematic areas and help to plan the development of interventions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mabel Birago Frimpong for her professional proofreading services. This paper forms part of a broad research project from which other publications have been produced with different objectives but share a common background, data and methods. This research was funded by the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) and University International Postgraduate Award (UIPA) Scholarship Scheme.

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Citation

Frimpong, S., Sunindijo, R.Y., Wang, C.C., Boadu, E.F., Dansoh, A. and Fagbenro, R.K. (2023), "A scoping review of research on mental health conditions among young construction workers", Construction Innovation, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-06-2023-0133

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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