RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Work functioning among young adults: the role of mental health problems from childhood to young adulthood JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine JO Occup Environ Med FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP oemed-2021-107819 DO 10.1136/oemed-2021-107819 A1 Samira de Groot A1 Karin Veldman A1 Benjamin C Amick III A1 Ute Bültmann YR 2021 UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2021/10/27/oemed-2021-107819.abstract AB Objectives Mental health problems (MHPs) during childhood and adolescence are negatively associated with having a paid job in young adulthood. Yet, little is known about how young adults function at work, that is, do they experience difficulties in meeting their job demands given their health state. This longitudinal study aims to examine the impact of MHPs from childhood to young adulthood on young adults’ work functioning (WF).Methods Data were used from 1004 participants in the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey, a Dutch prospective cohort study with 18-year follow-up. MHP trajectories, including 11, 13.5, 16, 19, 22 and 26 age points, were identified using growth mixture models. WF was assessed at age 29 with the Work Role Functioning Questionnaire 2.0 (WRFQ). Regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between MHP trajectories and WF.Results Young adults with high-stable trajectories of internalising and externalising problems reported lower WF (mean WRFQ scores of 70.5 and 70.7, respectively) than those with low-stable trajectories (78.4 and 77.2), that is, they experience difficulties in meeting the work demands for more than one work day per full-time work week. Young adults with moderate-stable or decreasing MHP trajectories reported lower WF scores compared with those with low-stable trajectories.Conclusions Both persistent high and elevated levels of MHPs from childhood to young adulthood are associated with lower WF scores in young adulthood compared with low-level MHPs. Occupational healthcare professionals should support young workers with a history of MHPs to optimise their work functioning.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. TRAILS data of the T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 measurement wavesare deposited in the Data Archiving and Networked Services of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (DANS-KNAW) and access can be requested at “http://www.dans.knaw.nl".