Coping with unemployment: The impact of unemployment on mental health, personality, and social interaction skills

Abstract

Unemployment is known to be associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. However, there is ambiguity about the direction of this association. Different to large surveys, the present pilot-study focuses on a detailed characterization of unemployed and strictly matched employed subjects. Besides depressive symptoms and personality factors, their level of social and communicative skills was determined by an experimental behavioral paradigm. Ninety-two subjects were screened; 62 showed relevant exclusion criteria or failed the matching procedure. Finally, 30 subjects (15 employed, 15 unemployed) participated. The experimental group-paradigm consisted of a complex standardized challenge situation, which demands communicative and social skills for a successful solution. This was followed by an individualized video-based behavioral analysis. Expectedly, unemployed subjects showed more depressive symptoms than employed subjects but did not show higher levels of susceptible personality traits. There were no differences between employed and unemployed subjects in social and communicative competencies; these skills however correlated positively with the level of depression. Unemployment is an important stressor, affecting mental health. The absence of susceptible traits and skills deficits suggests that depressive syndromes are rather resulting than cause of unemployment. Social skills do not prevent depressive reactions during unemployment.