Teenagers who suffer with emotional problems are more likely to be unemployed in early adulthood, a new study has found.

According to Scottish researchers, emotional problems during adolescence should be seen as a key risk factor for future joblessness.

They monitored the employment patterns of more than 7,000 people over a 12-year period and found that teenagers who tended to feel nervous or depressed, rather than happy and calm, were more likely to be jobless in early adulthood.

Those who were considered highly distressed between the ages of 16 and 20, were 32% more likely to be unemployed in early adulthood. The findings were irrespective of the participants' socio-economic background.

"These findings provide strong evidence that distressed adolescents are vulnerable to unemployment," commented the researchers from the University of Stirling.

They noted that aside from the health benefits, investing in early mental health intervention could also lead to economic benefits.

"Investing in childhood and adolescent mental health services could have economic benefits including reducing population-level unemployment. Widening access to effective treatments for early life distress could lead to large economic returns by helping individuals into employment and increasing their lifetime earnings," they said.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Social Science & Medicine.