Magee has also studied the ways that people develop coping mechanisms to deal with their problems. Temporary decrements in functioning often result from stress or mental illness, so his research on resilience reflects his more general interest in coping. Magee is seeking to describe the social processes that help make some people more resilient than others. He is currently investigating patterns of resilience among persons from different socioeconomic classes, to determine the routes through which adverse socioeconomic conditions during childhood influence capacities for functioning at midlife. Magee is also studying connections between health and participation in the labour force.
Many people leave the labour force because of health problems.
Rather than describing their health problems as the reason for leaving work, however, some people may say that they are retired, or left work to go back to school, or to engage in other pursuits. Magee hopes to uncover how health problems influence leaving the labour force for both health related reasons, and for other reasons. He expects that information on the effects of health on leaving the labour force will be useful for the development of workplace illness prevention programs, and programs to support people with disabilities in the workplace. Magee is currently initiating research into self-care strategies for mental health problems. As people with chronic pain learn coping strategies, so do some people with chronic or recurring mental distress.