Abstract
Background. Research on grief, depression, and anxiety reactions following job loss is sparse. More insight in this matter could be important for the development of preventive and curative methods addressing the perceived emotional distress following job loss, especially in the case of job loss-related grief reactions.
Objective. The aim of this study was to examine job loss-related grief reactions in relation to depression and anxiety symptoms.
Method. A sample of 525 Dutch workers (59.8% women, mean age of 50.6 years) who had lost their job was recruited. A latent class analysis was used to examine whether separate classes for these three concepts could be distinguished, and which factors were associated with class membership.
Results. Latent class analysis revealed four distinct classes, that is, a so-called “mixed”, a “grieving”, a “depressed”, and a “resilient” class. Job loss circumstances and coping strategies (but not socio-demographic and work characteristics) were associated with class membership.
Conclusion. These results shed light on unique characteristics that might be targeted with specific clinical methods to increase mental health of different subgroups of individuals confronted with job loss.
The first author (JE) was responsible for the data collection.
