Correlates of coping with unemployment in young australians

Abstract The study reported is an investigation of the correlates of individual differences in coping with unemployment in young Australians. One hundred and twenty-six young people (66 males, 60 females) attending Commonwealth Youth Support Scheme (CUSS) centres in Melbourne were surveyed. Adjustment to unemployment was ad via self-reported physical and mental health problems and life satisfaction. Also assessed were a range of factors hypothesized, on the basis of stress theory, to mediate adjustment to unemployment including: duration of unemployment, economic deprivation, social support, cognitive irrationality, work values and range of leisure activities. Regression analyses indicated that all criterion measures of adjustment were associated significantly with the predictor variables. It was concluded that stress theory provides a useful conceptual framework for analysing individual differences in the impact of unemployment.