title: Long-term unemployment amongst adolescents: a longitudinal study.
abstract: The unique developmental period of adolescence suggests a distinct experience of unemployment compared to older and adult populations. A longitudinal study of long-term unemployed adolescents found healthy levels of negative self-esteem associated with strong adult social identification, high perceived time filled, low employment commitment and strong perceived personal identity. The evidence suggested good psychological health (indicated by negative self-esteem and GHQ-12) contributed to gaining employment. Employment was not associated with an improvement in levels of self-esteem (both positive and negative), although the psychological benefits of employment were indicated by a lowering in GHQ-12 scores (despite lower levels reported during unemployment by those later employed).
authors.affiliation: Centre for Human Communication, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Meân Patterson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011632:Public Assistance; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014830:Vocational Guidance