Job-search preparedness as a mediator of the effects of the Työhön Job Search Intervention on re-employment and mental health

✍ Scribed by Jukka Vuori; Amiram D. Vinokur

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 175 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-3796
• DOI: 10.1002/job.308

✦ Synopsis

Previous studies that have demonstrated the beneficial effects of the Tyo ¨ho ¨n Job Search Intervention for job seekers on re-employment and mental health have not revealed the specific mediators of these effects. The present study examined two specific mediators that were targeted by the intervention, job-search self-efficacy and inoculation against setbacks, as components of a global construct referred to as job-search preparedness. The hypothesis that job-search preparedness is the main mediator of the effects of the intervention on the outcomes was then tested using data from the 1261 participants of the Finnish Tyo ¨ho ¨n Job Search Intervention study. ANOVA demonstrated that the Tyo ¨ho ¨n intervention produced a significant increase in both job-search self-efficacy and inoculation against setbacks (both p < 0.001). Further structural equation modelling demonstrated that the intervention increased job-search preparedness ( ¼ 0.21, p < 0.001) which had statistically significant mediating effects on increasing re-employment ( ¼ 0.12, 0.10, p < 0.01, 0.05, respectively), and decreasing financial strain and depressive symptoms ( ¼ from À0.09 to À0.14, p < 0.01 to 0.001). Future studies should expand the conceptualization of job-search preparedness with assessment of job-search skills as an additional component.