Correlates of Psychological Distress in Involuntary Job Loss

Abstract

This study estimated correlates of psychological distress with a heterogeneous sample of American subjects ( N = 122; M age = 33.5 yr.) who were involuntarily displaced from work. Expectation of finding a new job is a significant source of psychological distress in job loss after taking into account length of unemployment and economic dependence. Psychological distress also showed significant negative association with self-esteem and significant positive relationship with job-seeking effort. Other important findings are discussed.