Causal attributions of job loss among people with psychiatric disabilities

Guided by Weiner's attribution theory (1985), the aim of this study is to describe the reasons given by people with psychiatric disabilities to explain job loss.

Using a sample of 126 people with psychiatric disabilities participating in a prospective study design, the authors evaluated the causal attributions pattern to explain job loss. During a 9-month follow-up phone interview, clients of supported employment programs were asked to explain the reasons why they had lost their jobs. The reasons provided were categorized according to type of job loss (voluntarily vs. involuntarily), locus of control (external vs. internal) and controllability (controllable vs. uncontrollable).

The results show that 73% of participants had voluntarily ended their jobs. For the majority of participants, the reasons given to explain job loss were related to external and uncontrollable factors. Moreover, men used more external (34.1% vs. 23%) and uncontrollable (68.2% vs. 40%) reasons than women. Severity of symptoms and level of education also affected the attributional pattern. However, self-esteem, psychiatric diagnosis and work centrality did not correlate significantly to the attributional pattern.

The results demonstrated that reasons given to explain job loss among people with psychiatric disabilities are mostly external. A more systematic evaluation of environmental factors should be put in place to favor longer job tenure for people with psychiatric disabilities.