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Interest in the health and behavioral effects of economic insecurity appears to vary with the performance of the economy. The current recession in the United States and Western Europe and growing unemployment in Eastern Europe make it timely to analytically review the recent research concerned with the health effects of economic contraction. The research concerned with the health and behavioral effects of economic insecurity is organized by dependent variable and method. Rules for determining which effects are supported by strong and which by weak evidence are developed and applied to the literature. Evidence for effects on symptoms of psychological distress, seeking help for psychological distress, and nonspecific physiological illness is strong. Evidence for effects on suicide, child abuse, adverse birth outcomes, and heart disease is characterized as weak or …