The investigators also determined that the psychological effects of job loss were not short-lived. At 6-month and 2-year follow-up, when 60% and 71% of the study participants, respectively, had been re-employed, the depression and perceived loss of personal control remained evident, they wrote (J. Occup. Health Psychol. 2002;7:302-12).
Many of these negative effects are preventable through interventions that empower people in the face of adversity, according to Dr. Price, who, along with his colleagues, developed such an intervention in the early 1980s that is still being used. Called the JOBS program, the intervention teaches trainers–often teachers, social workers, or others who themselves have been unemployed–to help participants develop the necessary practical skills and self-confidence they will need in order to get new jobs. In 5-day workshops, participants learn job-search strategies, practice interviewing skills, and engage in role-play and problem-solving activities aimed at helping them cope.
Randomized trials conducted in the United States and Finland have shown that people who complete the program find new jobs faster than those who do not, are reemployed in higher paying positions; and experience fewer job-loss related negative mental health consequences (J. Health Soc. Behav. 1992;33:158-67; Am. J. Community Psychol. 1995;23:39-74; J. Occup. Health Psychol. 2002;7:5-19).
The positive impact of the intervention remained evident 2 years after participation, an analysis of the long-term effects of the program show. By using data from the initial randomized field experiment conducted in 1995, the Michigan investigators determined that, 2 years post intervention, program participants had “significantly higher levels of reemployment and monthly income, lower levels of depressive symptoms, lower likelihood of experiencing a major depressive episode in the last year, and better role and emotional functioning compared with the control group.”
Job-search motivation and sense of mastery at baseline “had both direct and interactive effects on reemployment and mental health outcomes, respectively,” they wrote, noting that participants who initially had lower levels of job-search motivation and mastery benefited the most (J. Occup. Health Psychol. 2000;5:32-47).
Empowering those struggling emotionally during the economic crisis is also the goal of a new Web-based guide developed by SAMHSA called “Getting Through Tough Economic Times” (www.samhsa.gov/economy).
By Diana Mahoney, Share your thoughts and suggestions at cpnews@elsevier.com