Frimpong, S; Sunindijo, R Y; Wang, C C; Boadu, E F; Dansoh, A and Fagbenro, R K (2025) A scoping review of research on mental health conditions among young construction workers. Construction Innovation, 25(1), pp. 5-34. ISSN 1471-4175
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.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; literature review; mental health; mental illness; occupational health; young workers |
| Index terms: | methodology, illness, mood, meta-analysis, mental health, estimate, population, anxiety, literature review, occupational health, resource allocation, construction worker, construction industry, systematic literature review |
| Subjects: | occupational health and safety management, research evaluation and metrics, resource management, behavioral psychology, industry analysis, mental health and wellbeing, health conditions and diseases, financial and cost management, demography, practitioner, data analysis and analytics, research methods |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Cost Management, Site Management, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here