Job Endings and Work Trajectories of Persons Receiving Supported Employment and Cognitive Remediation

Objective:This study examined job endings and work trajectories among participants in a study comparing the effects of adding cognitive remediation to supported employment among individuals who had not benefited from supported employment.Methods:Data were from a controlled trial of 107 persons with serious mental illness enrolled in supported employment but who had not obtained or sustained competitive work. Participants were randomly assigned to enhanced supported employment only (with employment specialists trained to recognize cognitive difficulties and teach coping strategies) or to the Thinking Skills for Work program (enhanced supported employment plus cognitive remediation). For the 52 participants who worked, the two groups were compared on types of job endings, reasons for job endings, successful versus unsuccessful jobs, and work trajectories over the two-year study period.Results:The two groups did not differ in types of job ending, although participants in Thinking Skills for Work were less li...