A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF JOB LOSS IN RELATION TO THE GRIEF PROCESS

This study extended a previous assessment of the applicability of the grief process to job-loss, using a longitudinal sample. A sample of 38 unemployed men were interviewed shortly after job loss (t(1)), and at four times over the following year (t(2)-t(5)), using a structured interview, a personal scaling technique [PQRST: Mulhall (1978), Manual for Personal Questionnaire Scaling Technique. NFER], and standard questionnaires of attachment to the former job, anxiety and depression. Of the sample, 24% fulfilled a criterion for a grief-like response at t(1). Factor analysis of the PQRST showed evidence for a general grief factor. A composite grief score from the interview was associated with two measures of job attachment (at t(1)), and with questionnaire measures of depression and anxiety at t(1)-t(5). There was a gradual decline over time in the grief reaction.