The relative effects of unemployment and quality of employment on the affect, work values and personal control of adolescents

This study examined the relative effects of unemployment and quality of employment on the affective states, personal control and work values of school‐leavers. Initially, students were surveyed at school and then reassessed two years later when they were either unemployed, employed or continuing their education. Those in employment were categorized as being in good or poor employment on the basis of the degree to which their jobs allowed them to utilize their skills and education. When school‐leavers who obtained good quality employment were compared with those who were unemployed, they had lower depressive affect, higher life‐satisfaction, higher internal control and higher personal competence. However, there was little difference on these variables between the unemployed and the poor employment groups. Both of these groups, when compared with students and those in good employment, had higher depressive affect, lower work values and lower personal control. All of these results were confirmed when analyses controlled for testing effects and initial differences on the dependent variables. These results show that the relative effects of employment and unemployment upon adolescents depend on the quality of experienced employment. 1990 The British Psychological Society