EEPIC: Enhancing employability through positive interventions for increasing career potential. A high support career guidance intervention to improve the well-being and employability of the long term unemployed in Ireland

A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a high support career guidance intervention on the well-being, hopefulness, self-efficacy and employability of the long term unemployed in Ireland

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN16801028

Enrollment

120

Registered

2016-02-09

Start date

2015-09-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2023-03-27

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Psychological well-being Not Applicable

Interventions

Participants in this study will be randomly selected from a pool of jobseekers, referred by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) Intreo office to a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) for activat

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Participants are unemployed job seekers who: 1. Must be clients of the public employment services (DSP/Intreo) and in receipt of a job seekers payment 2. Are referred by the DSP/Intreo office to Pathways to Work (Activation) 3. Have a duration of unemployment > 12months 4. Are aged 18-60 years 5. Are male/female 6. Have attended a Group Information Session (GIS) Participants must provide written, informed consent before engaging in either intervention (EEPIC Informed Consent Form)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Job seekers who have: 1. Disclosed serious mental health issues 2. Disclosed serious drug use issues 3. Have not attended their first post-GIS appointment following at least three attempts to engage them and who have been referred back to DSP/Intreo

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Increased well-being: This will be assessed using two measures, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Satisfaction with Life scale: 1.1. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) is a 12-item self-report questionnaire most widely used to assess levels of psychological distress and to screen for minor psychological disorders. The GHQ has been widely validated and shown to be highly reliable, with a reported Crombach’s ranging from 0.82 to 0.90 1.2. The Satisfaction with Life Scale is a five-item self-report questionnaire developed to measure global cognitive judgemental aspects of life satisfaction. Life satisfaction has been identified as the cognitive judgemental component of subjective well-being where judgements of satisfaction are dependent on a comparison with a person’s own standard as opposed to a criterion set within the scale, or in a particular domain Participants subjective well-being will be assessed prior to the intervention or normal service, post intervention and again at 6 month follow up.	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Increased well-being: This will be assessed using two measures, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Satisfaction with Life scale: 1.1. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) is a 12-item self-report questionnaire most widely used to assess levels of psychological distress and to screen for minor psychological disorders. The GHQ has been widely validated and shown to be highly reliable, with a reported Crombach’s ranging from 0.82 to 0.90 1.2. The Satisfaction with Life Scale is a five-item self-report questionnaire developed to measure global cognitive judgemental aspects of life satisfaction. Life satisfaction has been identified as the cognitive judgemental component of subjective well-being where judgements of satisfaction are dependent on a comparison with a person’s own standard as opposed to a criterion set within the scale, or in a particular domain Participants subjective well-being will be assessed prior to the intervention or normal service, post intervention and again at 6 month follow up.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Self esteem, measured by the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Questionnaire, a 10-item scale designed to measure global self-esteem 2. Career self-efficacy will be measured by the Career Self Efficacy Questionnaire which was adapted by Kossek, Roberts & Demarr (1998) from Sherer and Adam’s (1983) General Self Efficacy Scale to measure a context-specific form of self-efficacy. This is an 11-item self-report questionnaire which measures an individual’s belief in his or her ability to manage their own career 3. Resilience will be measured by the Brief Resilience Scale, a six-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the ability to bounce back or recover from stress 4. Hopefulness will be measured by the Sate Hope Scale, a six-item self-report scale which assesses goal directed thinking in a given moment 5. Perceived progress towards the labour market will be measured by Cantril’s Self Anchoring Ladder, a 10-step ladder where the top of the ladder represents the best possible situation for an individual and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible situation. The Scale has been used in research as a type of well-being assessment, and measures well-being as defined by judgments of life or life evaluation. However, this scale has been adjusted so that the focus is on career goals and the best and worst possible situation for the individual in relation to their career 6. Re-employment or labour market participation will be assessed by rates of progression into employment post intervention at T2, and at six-month follow up. This will be measured by a single item which asks individuals to indicate whether they are currently unemployed (coded as 0) or currently employed (coded as 1). 7. A measure of re-employment quality will be measured by using the following dimensions: 7.1. Job satisfaction will be assessed by a single item (answered on a 4 poin	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Self esteem, measured by the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Questionnaire, a 10-item scale designed to measure global self-esteem 2. Career self-efficacy will be measured by the Career Self Efficacy Questionnaire which was adapted by Kossek, Roberts & Demarr (1998) from Sherer and Adam’s (1983) General Self Efficacy Scale to measure a context-specific form of self-efficacy. This is an 11-item self-report questionnaire which measures an individual’s belief in his or her ability to manage their own career 3. Resilience will be measured by the Brief Resilience Scale, a six-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the ability to bounce back or recover from stress 4. Hopefulness will be measured by the Sate Hope Scale, a six-item self-report scale which assesses goal directed thinking in a given moment 5. Perceived progress towards the labour market will be measured by Cantril’s Self Anchoring Ladder, a 10-step ladder where the top of the ladder represents the best possible situation for an individual and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible situation. The Scale has been used in research as a type of well-being assessment, and measures well-being as defined by judgments of life or life evaluation. However, this scale has been adjusted so that the focus is on career goals and the best and worst possible situation for the individual in relation to their career 6. Re-employment or labour market participation will be assessed by rates of progression into employment post intervention at T2, and at six-month follow up. This will be measured by a single item which asks individuals to indicate whether they are currently unemployed (coded as 0) or currently employed (coded as 1). 7. A measure of re-employment quality will be measured by using the following dimensions: 7.1. Job satisfaction will be assessed by a single item (answered on a 4 poin

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Countries

Ireland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Mar 7, 2026