The disclosure of severe mental illness in the workplace

Amanda M Jones, Purdue University

Abstract

Despite the development of supported employment as an evidence-based practice for helping people with severe mental illnesses (SMI) find jobs, these workers often have trouble keeping their jobs. Workers' well-documented struggles with workplace disclosures of severe mental illness might help explain some of the factors that contribute to premature job terminations. At the same time, disclosures also give workers the opportunity to obtain support and accommodations they might need to be successful in the workplace. Guided by a literature-based conceptual map of the many facets and contexts of disclosure, this study aimed to provide information about some of the characteristics of workplace disclosures of SMI, including disclosure frequencies, disclosure patterns, and disclosure predictors. In addition, the literature was used to develop a conceptual model of the workplace outcomes of disclosure, and this model informed analyses of the associations between disclosure and outcomes related to workplace relationships, job satisfaction, and job tenure. The sample for this study included 55 individuals with SMI who obtained competitive jobs or individual placements through one of two vocational programs: the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) program or the Diversified Placement Approach (DPA) program. During semiannual interviews, participants provided information about disclosures to supervisors and coworkers, the qualities of their relationships with supervisors and coworkers, and their satisfaction with their supervisors and coworkers. Separate interviews with participants provided ratings of job satisfaction. On retrospective surveys, participants' vocational program staff provided information on disclosure of participants' SMI to supervisors and coworkers at participants' jobs. Results highlighted several new findings on disclosure characteristics for the research literature. These included frequent disagreements between participants and their vocational workers about whether disclosures had occurred, with vocational workers usually reporting more disclosures than participants. Other new contributions to the disclosure literature included participants' lack of selectivity in disclosure recipients and the lack of change in disclosure patterns over time. Like previous studies, this study revealed more disclosure to supervisors than to coworkers. In addition, this research found that few participant characteristics predicted disclosure. Significant findings on disclosure outcomes included a modest association between disclosure to supervisors and positive qualities in participants' relationships with supervisors, as well as a modest association between disclosure to coworkers and negative qualities in participants' relationships with coworkers. None of the disclosure variables were significantly related to the more distal outcomes of job satisfaction and job tenure. Study limitations, practical implications, and future directions for research on the disclosure of SMI in the workplace are discussed.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Bond, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Clinical psychology

COinS