Unemployment, Stress and Social Support

Abstract

The growth of unemployment in Western countries since the early 1970's has led social scientists to query its impact upon the individuals affected. Considerable evidence now exists testifying to the harmful effects of unemployment upon psychological well-being. One variable which may influence the degree to which unemployment affect psychological health is social support. A substantial body of research has grown which shows the importance of social support in reducing the negative impact of stressful life events. A major flaw in many of these studies has been the lack of attention paid to the psychometric quality of the instruments used to measure social support. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between different dimensions of social support and stress in a large group of unemployed people using psychometrically sound measures. Prior to this two social support measures and a stress measure were first evaluated on a university student group. For one of the Support questionnaires, and also for the stress questionnaire, it was necessary to develop brief versions that would be practical for subsequent use with an unemployed sample. These brief versions were also rigorously evaluated on students before administration to the unemployed. The three questionnaires were then administered to a total of 300 unemployed people over a six month period. The results showed that stress levels were high among this group and that social support was negatively related to stress. However, only subjective satisfaction with social support showed this direct relationship with stress. The size of a person's support network and the number of supportive behaviours they reported receiving were both positively related to their degree of satisfaction with social support, but showed no direct relationship with stress. Those findings were in accord with those of other researchers. In addition, other variables including race, sex, and duration of unemployment were examined to see if they were related to stress. The policy implications of the results were discussed and some directions for future research were indicated.