Predictors of Employment in a Treatment Sample of Individuals with Substance Use Disorders

• Main Author: Ngjelina, Enkelejda
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2019
• Subjects: Employment; Substance Use Treatment; Addiction; Job Seekers Workshop; Psychology
• Online Access: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/6022; https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7120&context=etd

Efforts to increase employment rates through vocational skills training and job interview skills development have yielded mixed results. While initial studies of Job Seekers Workshop (JSW) found greater employment success for participants randomized to JSW as compared to a control condition (Hall, Loeb & Norton, 1977), a more recent Clinical Trials Network (CTN) study found no differences in employment outcomes between the JSW and control groups and the rate of employment overall was substantively lower than those reported in the early studies (Svikis et al., 2012). To better understand these discrepant findings, the present study conducted secondary analyses using the 2012 RCT dataset. It examined whether JSW participants engaged in more types and higher frequencies of various job-seeking behaviors than SC controls. The study also examined the relationship between JSW intervention dose and employment outcomes. Finally, the study sought to identify individual and treatment variables associated with getting a job. The results showed comparable rates of job-seeking behavior in JSW and SC controls. However, JSW intervention dose (number of sessions attended) was related to the likelihood of employment at 6-month follow-up. Univariate analysis found a variety of demographic, treatment, and psychosocial variables associated with becoming employed during study follow-up. Multivariate analyses found the most parsimonious model for predicting employment during the 6- month follow up period including being male, attending psychosocial outpatient treatment, attending more JSW sessions, submitting a job application, and living with a sexual partner or children. Future research should look more closely at barriers to employment and how to better measure client motivation to get a job.