Influence of Multi-Aspect Job Preference Matching on Job Tenure for People With Mental Disorders in Supported Employment Programs in Japan

Objective: This study examined the association between job tenure and job preference domains for people with mental disorders enrolled in Individual Placement and Support (IPS) programs in Japan. The domains include occupation type, monthly income, weekly work hours, commute time, and illness disclosure. Methods: We conducted secondary analysis of participants who obtained employment in a longitudinal study during the 24-month follow-up period at 16 agencies routinely providing IPS programs. We included 112 participants who expressed job preferences and were employed at least once. A total of 130 employment cases were analyzed. Matches in the five domains were determined using participants' job preferences and employment information. The Match Level (0-5) indicates the number of domains that match the participant's job preferences. Job tenure (weeks worked) was compared between the matched and unmatched groups in each domain and between each match levels using linear regression mixed-effects models. Results: A match for a given domain did not show a significant relationship with job tenure, whereas Match Levels 3 (B = 29.6, 95% CI [10.8, 48.4], p = .003) and 4 (B = 37.0, 95% CI [17.1, 56.9], p < .001) had a significantly longer tenure than those with Match Level 1. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: A higher match level may be related to a longer job tenure. The results suggest that employment specialists should prioritize clients' preferences in job searches. Further replication studies in other settings and countries should be conducted to verify the findings in this study.