C D M H

Project Title:	Preventing Depression in Couples Facing Job Loss
Principal Investigators:	Richard H. Price, George Howe
Co-Investigators:	Amiram D. Vinokur, Robert D. Caplan
Contact Person and Information:
Richard H. Price 2263 Institute for Social Research Box 1248 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248 Phone 734-763-0446 Fax 734-936-0548 ricprice@umich.edu
STUDY AIMS:
To develop and test a new intervention for couples experiencing job loss, designed to prevent depression and disruption of intimate relationships. This collaborative research project (R10) was conducted at two sites: The Michigan Prevention Research Center at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan and the Center for Family Research at George Washington University.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INITIAL SAMPLE:
Selection criteria:
(1) Recently unemployed (less than 19 weeks), (2) looking for work, (3) member of a couple living together at least 6 months, and (4) scoring below a clinical cut-off criterion for depression.
Sample characteristics:
Gender:		56% females, 44% males
Ethnicity:		74% whites, 21% African American, 5% other
Socioeconomic Status:		All levels of socioeconomic status

COMPLETED WAVES:
Wave	Age of Subjects	N *:
1 (screening)	38 yrs	12,980
2 (pretest)	38 yrs	3369
3 (posttest)	38 yrs	2930
4 (posttest)	38.5 yrs	2549
* Samples sizes reflect individual respondents from both sites. Data were collected in approximately equal proportions at each site
Currently Funded Waves: 5 (posttest)

DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES:
Middle Adulthood

MEASURES
Personal:
	Personality:	Couples financial coping efficacy, job search self-efficacy, mastery
	Symptoms and Syndromes:	Depression symptomatology, probability of depression caseness, role and emotional functioning, utilization of mental health services.
Social:
	Family:	Relationship disagreements, relationship functioning, relationship anger Relationship status, satisfaction and stability.
	Stresses and Supports:	Employment status, rate of reemployment, job quality, stability.
REPRESENTATIVE FINDINGS:
Analyses of a two-year longitudinal sample of 756 people experiencing job loss indicate that the critical mediating mechanisms in the chain of adversity from job loss to poor health and functioning are financial strain and a reduction in the sense of personal control. Financial strain mediates the relationship of job loss with depression and personal control, whereas reduced personal control mediates the adverse impacts of financial strain and depression on both poor functioning and self-reports of poor health. These results suggest that loss of personal control is a pathway through which economic adversity is transformed into chronic problems of poor health and impaired role and emotional functioning.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS:
Vinokur, A.D., Schul, Y., Vuori, J.,& Price, R.H. (2000). Two years after a job loss: Long-term impact of the JOBS Program on reemployment and mental health. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 32-47. Price, R.H., Choi, J., & Vinokur, A.D. (2001). Links in the Chain of Adversity Following Job Loss: How Financial Strain and Loss of Personal Control Lead to Depression, Impaired Functioning, and Poor Health. Submitted to Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

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