cardiac autonomic modulation; unemployment; heart rate variability; financial difficulties

This study examined whether the possible effect of unemployment on cardiac autonomic activity is in part mediated by lower psychological well-being. The sample comprised of 15 job-seeking men aged 30-49 years matched with 15 employed men on various potentially confounding variables. Heart rate variability (HRV) during a modified orthostatic test was the measure of cardiac autonomic activity. Unemployed men had significantly lower overall HRV (p = .040) than controls. This association was partially mediated through lower general life satisfaction, and in particular by low financial satisfaction, independently of demographic and/or behavioral factors that influence HRV. These findings suggest that seeking a job is a potential stressor that may reduce overall HRV and contribute towards disturbance of cardiac autonomic modulation in men. Financial difficulties could be one mechanism through which the effects of unemployment are translated into impaired autonomic modulation.