MASTERY AND INOCULATION AGAINST SETBACKS AS ACTIVE INGREDIENTS IN THEJOBS INTERVENTION FOR THE UNEMPLOYED

Earlier analyses of the JOBS II intervention for unemployed job seeker s demonstrated that the intervention facilitated reemployment, reduced depressive symptoms, and improved role and emotional functioning (A. D. Vinokur, R. H. Price, & Y. Schul, 1995). The present study focuses on mediational processes of the active ingredients targeted by the int ervention. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that an enhanced sense of mastery had mediating effects on reemployment, finan cial strain, and reduction in depressive symptoms. Another active ingr edient, inoculation against setbacks, was shown to protect those who s uffered the setback of losing a job after temporarily regaining one. T he inoculation protected them from experiencing the high level of depr essive symptoms that was typical of their counterparts in the control group.