A Systems Level Intervention for Unemployed Persons With Social Anxiety

The goal of the proposed research is to gather information from Jewish Vocational Service consumers and employees about the association between social anxiety disorder and unemployment. A recent nationally representative epidemiological study places the lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV SocAD at 12.1% (Kessler et al., 2005). Social anxiety disorder is associated with notable impairments in social functioning (Kessler, 2003; Stein and Kean, 2000). A large majority of people with social anxiety disorder report significant impairment in occupational functioning (Stein, et al., 2000; Turner et al., 1986). Specific impairments include turning down job offers and promotions (Stein, Torgrud, & Walker, 2000), reduced productivity and job performance (Wittchen, et al., 2000), lowered educational attainment & early school dropout (Stein & Kean, 2000), increased unemployment (Heimberg et al.,1990a), financial dependence (Scheier et al, 1992), and reduced income (Magee et al., 1996). Social anxiety disorder likely interferes with job attainment due to job interview avoidance, excessive anxious arousal during job interviews, and limited social networks to provide job leads. Our longitudinal study of mothers receiving welfare found that the diagnosis of social anxiety disorder was the strongest psychiatric predictor of reliance on welfare for support over time. We have also completed a study that identifies social anxiety disorder as the only psychiatric disorder that significantly interferes with attaining work among individuals who participated in an internationally tested, best-practice, vocational services intervention program. We have begun to screen individuals for the presence of social anxiety at Jewish Vocational Service in Detroit, Michigan, where the primary clientele are economically disadvantaged, African Americans who are seeking work. Our screening efforts confirm the association between suspected social anxiety disorder and unemployment in this population. This project will build upon these findings and will interview JVS consumers and employees to gain more insight and knowledge into the relationship between social anxiety disorder and unemployment. It will also inform future research on the design and development of a culturally appropriate, vocationally focused, sustainable, cognitive-behavioral intervention for unemployed, economically disadvantaged, urban-dwelling persons whose job attainment efforts have been undermined by the presence of social anxiety disorder.