Description

Job Search Intervention Study (JOBS II). JOBS II is a randomized field experiment that investigates the efficacy of a job trainingintervention on unemployed workers. The program is designed to not only increase reemploymentamong the unemployed but also enhance the mental health of the job seekers. In the JOBS IIfield experiment, 1,801 unemployed workers received a pre-screening questionnaire and were thenrandomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Those in the treatment group participatedin job-skills workshops. In the workshops, respondents learned job-search skills and coping strategiesfor dealing with setbacks in the job-search process. Those in the control condition receiveda booklet describing job-search tips. In follow-up interviews, the two key outcome variables weremeasured; a continuous measure of depressive symptoms based on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist,and a binary variable, representing whether the respondent had become employed.

Usage

Format

A data matrix with 899 rows and 17 columns, containing no missing values. The data are provided only for illustrative purposes and not for inference about program efficacy, for which the original data source should be consulted.

econ_hard:

Level of economic hardship pre-treatment with values from 1 to 5.

depress1:

Measure of depressive symptoms pre-treatment.

sex:

Indicator variable for sex. 1 = female

age:

Age in years.

occp:

Factor with seven categories for various occupations.

marital:

Factor with five categories for marital status.

nonwhite:

Indicator variable for race. 1 = nonwhite.

educ:

Factor with five categories for educational attainment.

income:

Factor with five categories for level of income.

job_seek:

A continuous scale measuring the level of job-search self-efficacy with values from 1 to 5. The mediator variable.

depress2:

Measure of depressive symptoms post-treatment.

work1:

Indicator variable for employment. 1 = employed.

job_dich:

The job_seek measure recoded into two categories of high and low. 1 = high job search self-efficacy.

job_disc:

The job_seek measure recoded into four categories from lowest to highest.

treat:

Indicator variable for whether participant was randomly selected for the JOBS II training program. 1 = assignment to participation.

comply:

Indicator variable for whether participant actually participated in the JOBS II program. 1 = participation.

control:

Indicator variable for whether participant was randomly selected to not participate in the JOBS II training program. 1 = non-participation.

Source

The complete JOBS II data is available from the data archives at www.icpsr.umich.edu/

References

Vinokur, A. and Schul, Y. (1997). Mastery and inoculation against setbacks as active ingredients in the jobs intervention for the unemployed. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 65(5):867-77.