Subject(s)
Personnel, Hospital , Work Capacity Evaluation , Adult , Age Factors , Female , Hospital Departments , Humans , Italy , Male , Middle Aged , OccupationsABSTRACT
Two waves of questionnaire data obtained from displaced workers are used to test whether continuous unemployment (vs. reemployment) and increased economic stress influence displaced workers' perceptions of social support for a period of one to nine months following job loss from a plant closing. Two kinds of effects, stability and change, in these variables are examined. The results demonstrate change in social support after job loss, which indicates that unemployment and social support are mutually related and that life events (continuous unemployment) have an impact on social support through economic distress. Findings point to the need for further research on the issue of stress-buffering mechanisms.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/etiology , Social Support , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Unemployment , Adult , Family , Female , Humans , Life Change Events , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Three approaches to the study of mental illness are examined: the medical, the behavioral, and the societal reaction models. Operational measures of each model are presented and used to determine the relationship between the measures and duration of institutionalization and the relative importance of the three models in predicting duration of institutionalization. Data were obtained on 36 admissions at two state hospitals, and from interviews with 142 of the patients' relatives, friends, and co-workers. The measures of the societal reaction model and behavioral model were found to be related to duration of hospitalization, with the societal reaction model being the most predictive.
