Jobs II Preventive Intervention for Unemployed Job Seekers, 1991-1993: [Southeast Michigan] (ICPSR 2739)

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These data explore the impact of job loss and unemployment on workers' stress and mental health, and evaluate the potential benefits of participation in a job-search skills seminar. Respondents were recruited from four offices of the Michigan Employment Security Commission (MESC) in southeastern Michigan. A group of 31,560 unemployed persons were approached for the study. Of these, about 23,000 failed to meet basic initial criteria because they were new entrants to the labor market, already re-employed, or just accompanying others in line. Respondents were kept in the pool if they were not on strike and not expecting to be recalled for work in the next few months or planning to retire in the next two years. The resulting group of 7,956 were then assessed for symptoms of depression and willingness to participate in a job-seeking skills seminar. These final exclusion criteria resulted in a pool of 3,402. A screening questionnaire (Part 1) was administered to that pool, which allowed the researchers to classify respondents as being at high risk for depression and anxiety or at low risk. All of the high-risk respondents and a random sample of the low-risk participants were invited to participate in the study and in the MESC's Job Opportunities and Basic Skills II (JOBSII) intervention program, which consisted of a set of job-search skills seminars. JOBS II was patterned after JOBS I, which was offered by the MESC in the late 1980s. A pretest questionnaire (Part 2) was mailed to respondents between February and July 1991, two weeks prior to the invitation to participate in the JOBS intervention seminar. The questionnaire addressed the situation surrounding the respondents' loss of employment, quality of work life in previous job, level of economic hardship, attitudes toward obtaining a new job, social support network, self-esteem, feelings of anxiety and/or depression, health problems, and substance abuse history and related problems. At the same time, a mail questionnaire was sent to each respondent's significant other (Part 6). Items in this questionnaire focused on the length of their relationship with the respondent, the level of support given to the respondent, the significant other's observations regarding the daily activities of the respondent during this period of job loss, the significant other's feelings of anxiety and/or depression, and the significant other's level of economic hardship. A second and third mail questionnaire were sent six weeks (Part 3) and six months (Part 4) after the respondents' participation in a JOBS intervention program job-seeking skills seminar. For those respondents who had gained employment, questions were asked regarding current employment status, sense of job permanence, employee benefits, and feelings toward current job. Those respondents still seeking employment were queried about their intention to continue their job search, job-seeking behaviors, confidence in their ability to obtain a job, and the presence or lack of a social support network. For those respondents still unemployed six months after the intervention seminar, additional questions covered receipt of unemployment benefits and how necessary those benefits were. Similarly, significant others were queried both six weeks (Part 7) and six months (Part 8) after the respondents' participation in the job intervention. Topics focused on their relationship with the respondent, the observed daily activities of the respondent, the emotional support given to the respondent, the respondent's job-seeking behavior, the respondent's and significant other's feelings of anxiety and/or depression, and the level of shared responsibility regarding the payment of bills and other economic hardships. Finally, respondents were questioned through a mail survey two years (Part 5) after their participation in the intervention seminar about their employment status, quality of work life, financial strain endured, social support system, relationship satisfaction, self-esteem, feelings of anxiety and/or depression, health, and sense of control. Significant others were also queried after two years (Part 9) regarding their relationship with the respondent, the significant other's familiarity with the respondent's feelings of anxiety and/or depression, their social support network, and the significant other's feelings of anxiety and/or depression. Background information on respondents includes age, sex, race, Hispanic descent, education, marital status, age of children in household, number of financial dependents, and household income. Background information on significant others includes age, sex, race, Hispanic descent, education, and employment status. Following the conclusion of the JOBS intervention program, respondents were asked to complete a mail questionnaire (Part 10) evaluating the effectiveness of the program agenda and assessing the relevance of the seminar to their job search, the effectiveness of the seminar trainers, inoculation against setbacks, impact on their self-esteem, effect on their interviewing skills, and resume preparedness.

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