The present study examined the influence of self-efficacy on health complaints and the duration of unemployment in an age-homogeneous sample. Data resulted from a prospective cohort study that begun in 1987. Participants answered several questionnaires in 2002 and 2009. Results indicate that people with a low level of self-efficacy have higher levels of physical and mental health complaints and experience twice the length of unemployment compared to people with a medium or high level of self-efficacy. Thus, self-efficacy predicts health complaints and the duration of unemployment in the total sample seven years later. Even after controlling for base line levels in 2002, self-efficacy could significantly add explained variance in health complaints and duration of unemployment, but the variance explained incrementally is small. Concerning the life span of young adults, we found self-efficacy to be a protective factor relating to health complaints and the duration of experienced unemployment.