High psychological distress as indicated by a score greater than 8 in Kessler’s Psychological Distress Scale (K6). This score is usually associated with at least one psychiatric diagnosis, mostly affective or anxiety-spectrum disorders (ICD-10: F3 and F4).
Conditions
Interventions
Group 1: Control group: Job centre clients who participate in the surveys, but not in the intervention. They receive treatment as usual in their job centre.
Group 2: Intervention group: Job centre cli
concurrently or consecutively.
Sponsors
Jobcenter Ulm
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: a) Currently client of one of the participating job centres; b) New client of job centre, receiving a maximum of six months of unemployment benefits (based on SGB II) at time of project entry, OR receiving unemployment benefits for longer than six months (based on SGB II), but have become newly unemployed in the last six months due to loss of employment which is subject to social insurance contributions; c) At least moderate psychological distress (K6 > 8); d) Wish to take up employment which is subject to social insurance contributions; e) Willingness to participate in the project, including the data collection points, and to participate in the intervention (if offered); f) Written consent to participate in the project.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: Insufficient knowledge of German language Already in employment subject to social insurance contributions (or being self-employed for at least 15 hours/week)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Employment in the primary labour market which is subject to social insurance contributions 12 months after project entry (i.e., T1) | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| a) Prevalence of K6 > 8 (Kessler et al., 2010; T0); b) Days after T0 until entry into employment which is subject to social insurance contributions: c) Days in employment which is subject to social insurance contributions between T0 and T1; d) Employment which is subject to social insurance contributions 18 months after project entry (i.e., T2); e) Entry into longterm unemployment benefits (“Langzeitbezug”; i.e., at least 21 months of unemployment benefits (based on SGB II)) at 24 months after project entry; f) Well-being and health (EQ-5D, König et al., 2007; WHO-5, Brähler et al., 2007; PHQ-9, Löwe et al., 2004; GAD-7, Löwe et al., 2008; K6, Kessler et al., 2010; SSS-8, Gierk et al., 2014; T1, T2); g) Self-efficacy regarding job search (JSSE, Vinokur & Caplan, 1987; T1, T2); h) Motivation to take up employment in the primary labour market (Gühne et al., 2021; T1, T2) i) Social inclusion (ESIS, Leemann et al., 2021; SIX, Priebe et al., 2008; T1, T2); j) Willingness to seek help for psychological problems (GHSQ, Wilson et al., 2005, Waldmann et al., 2020; T1, T2); k) Self-stigma (SSMIS-SF; Corrigan et al., 2012; T1, T2); l) Utilisation of medical services in the healthcare system (CSSRI, Roick et al., 2001; Waldmann et al., 2021; every six months). In addition to the aforementioned outcomes, further variables will be collected in order to describe the study population and control for confounding effects. Among others, the following variables are collected: sociodemographic variables (age, gender, education, marital status, German citizenship, household income, living situation), substance abuse (CAGE-AID, Hinkin et al., 2001), clinical history (e.g., psychiatric diagnosis, years since first diagnosis, treatment), duration of unemployment (currently, lifetime), background for current unemployment (e.g., reasons for unemployment, taken actions against unemployment). | — |
Countries
Germany
Contacts
Public ContactSvenja Schlachter
Universitätsklinikum Ulm, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie II, Sektion Public Mental Health
Outcome results
None listed