THE GRIEF PROCESS AND JOB LOSS - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

This study assessed the applicability of the grief process to job loss . A pilot study of 10 unemployed men was used to establish a structure d interview, and its content analysis, based on a description of the g rief process derived from studies of bereavement. Other measures asses sed the degree of attachment to the former job. The main study involve d 60 men who had lost their jobs during the previous eight years. Indi vidual grief items were found in some of these people, varying in freq uency from 10 to 80 per cent. Principal components analysis revealed a general grief component, representing most of the specific items. Twe nty-seven per cent of the sample fulfilled a criterion for a clear gri ef-like response. An overall grief score based on the interview answer s was significantly correlated with three different measures of job at tachment, and also with questionnaire measures of depression and anxie ty. These measures were unrelated to the length of time since job loss , apparently providing no support for stage theories or for more gener al assumptions of adaptation. However, the cross-sectional nature of t he sample complicates this conclusion.