Affiliations:
The National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Jennifer L. Cmar, The National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision, P.O. Box 6189, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA. Tel.: +1 662 325 2001; E-mail: jcmar@colled.msstate.edu.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Research supports the short-term benefits of a job search intervention for youth with visual impairments, but its effectiveness over time has not been explored. OBJECTIVE:We examined the long-term effects of a research-based job search intervention on job search knowledge, job search behavior, job search self-efficacy, and employment outcomes. METHODS:We conducted a longitudinal study with 92 youth with visual impairments using a two-group, quasi-experimental repeated-measures design. The intervention group received 35–40 hours of job search skills training, and the comparison group received usual services. Data collection included telephone surveys at pretest, posttest, 8-month follow-up, and 14-month follow-up. RESULTS:Intervention group participants had increases in job search knowledge, job search behavior, and job search behavior self-efficacy at posttest; they maintained increases in knowledge and self-efficacy, but not behavior. Comparison group participants also had increases in job search behavior and job search behavior self-efficacy at the end of the study. Changes in job search outcomes self-efficacy were not evident for either group; neither were differences in post-intervention employment. CONCLUSIONS:The intervention had lasting effects on job search knowledge, but findings for other outcomes over time were mixed. Both groups had low employment rates throughout the study.
