Psychological Correlates of Unemployment Among Male Parasuicides in Edinburgh

Variations in clinical features associated with unemployment among a sample of male parasuicides were examined. Employed & unemployed persons did not differ in mean scores of depression & hopelessness, but a covariance analysis showed that hopelessness, rather than depression, is the important discriminator. Different patterns of relationships between the three clinical measures were observed in the two groups. Hopelessness is suggested to be a key social-psychological variable for inclusion in any model of the pathways which link unemployment with parasuicide. (38 refs)