The Connections between Social Functioning and the Quality of Life in the Population of People Who Lost their Job

Abstract

Objective:

On the scale of negative events that can happen in life,losing a job is high up on it, as a risk factor in the development of different psychiatric diseases. The connection between social functioning and the quality of life with people who lost their job was not explicitly researched.

Aims:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the connection between social functioning and the quality of life in the population of people who lost their job, with a wide spectrum of psychiatric diseases.

Method:

Social functioning was appraised using the GRONINGEN SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR QUESTIONNAIRE -100 { GSB -100} and GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONING {GAF} scale. The quality of life was measured using WHO QUALITY OF LIFE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT (WHOQOL-100).A total of 80 patients aged 40 to 60 who lost their job during the previous year were included in this study.

Results:

The population of patients who lost their job shows a huge range of problems in the area of social functioning. The number of problems was significantly higher in comparison with the control group of healthy people, but also a little higher in comparison with a group of psychiatric patients who had not lost their job.

Almost all GSB -100 scales were in negative interrelation with all QOL aspects, while the score on the GAF scale correlated positively with all QOL aspects.

People who lost their job with problems in the aspects of social functioning have a lower score than those without such problems.