PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

David Gustafson
Industrial/Organizational
December 1995

Job Seeking, Reemployment and Mental Health: An Intervention Experiment in Coping with Job Loss

    This thesis evaluated the impact of an educational intervention program designed to reduce the stress of job loss.  Subjects were 16 unemployed adults from southern California participating in a job search assistance program.  The experimental intervention (Job Club) provided training workshops in job seeking with a problem-solving process emphasizing inoculation against setbacks and positive social reinforcement designed to enhance and strengthen life coping skills which should decrease psychological distress.  The control group received a brief self-guide book on job seeking.  The State Trait Anxiety Inventory and three subscales from the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire were administered utilizing a pretest/posttest, experimental-control group design.  It was hypothesized that those receiving the workshops would have greater success in locating new employment, have reduced levels of anxiety and tension, and increased self-reliance.  Job Club participants did not significantly differ from those receiving only self-guided job search assistance training.  Findings were discussed and implications for future research were presented.

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