Affiliations: San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA | Second Chance/STRIVE Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Georg E. Matt, Department of
Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4611, USA. Tel.: +1
619 594 6262; Fax: +1 619 594 1332; E-mail: gmatt@sciences.sdsu.edu
Abstract: Psychological distress and resources were examined in an ethnically
diverse sample of low-education, unemployed, and difficult-to-employ persons
who participated in a three-week pre-employment training program (STRIVE).
Compared to the general population, applicants to the program exhibited
significantly higher levels of psychological distress. Men showed significantly
higher levels of depression and anxiety, less self-esteem, and more
dysfunctional attributions than women. Caucasian applicants showed higher
levels of depression and anxiety and lower levels of self-efficacy and
self-esteem. The gender differences in depression and powerful other
attributions were moderated by ethnicity. Graduates of the program showed the
strongest improvements with respect to self-esteem (d=0.65) and self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy increased more for Latino (d=0.79) and African-American (d=0.52)
than Caucasian participants (d=0.34). Graduates showed significantly higher
levels of internal attributions (d=0.42), lower levels of chance attributions
(d=−0.16), and less depression (d=−0.38) than when they applied to
the program. A subsample of graduates completed follow-ups between 2–8
months after graduation, showing persistent though smaller improvements
compared to baseline. These findings suggest that pre-employment training
programs can play a potentially important role in reducing psychological
distress and strengthening psychological resources in difficult-to-employ and
ethnically diverse populations trying to reenter the labor market. Limitations
of this study and future direction for applied psychological research in the
large and growing population of hard-to-employ persons are discussed.
Keywords: Mental health, psychological resources, pre-employment training, STRIVE program
