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Levels of stress and anxiety in child and family social work: Workers' perceptions of organizational structure, professional support and workplace opportunities in Children's Services in the UK

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  • Antonopoulou, P.
  • Killian, M.
  • Forrester, D.

Abstract

Child and family social workers are consistently found to have high levels of stress, and this has often been linked to burnout and retention problems in the profession. Local authorities in the UK have recently been under pressure to reform services, and one focus has been exploring how different organizational structures might reduce stress and increase well-being of workers. This paper presents data on 193 social workers from five local authorities in England. We examine the effects of different ways of organizing Children's Services on workers' well-being, with particular focus on the underlying relationship between organizational elements, workplace opportunities, and practitioners' work satisfaction. The primary outcome measure is the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12, Goldberg, 1978), a widely validated measure of stress. This data is presented alongside information exploring aspects of organizational structure and functioning. Results indicated significantly different levels of reported stress and general well-being in practitioners working in different local authorities. Implications for how local authorities might support staff to work productively in the stressful and challenging environment of child and family social work are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonopoulou, P. & Killian, M. & Forrester, D., 2017. "Levels of stress and anxiety in child and family social work: Workers' perceptions of organizational structure, professional support and workplace opportunities in Children's Services in the UK," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 42-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:76:y:2017:i:c:p:42-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.02.028
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mor Barak, Michalle E. & Levin, Amy & Nissly, Jan A. & Lane, Christianne J., 2006. "Why do they leave? Modeling child welfare workers' turnover intentions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 548-577, May.
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    3. Boyas, Javier & Wind, Leslie H., 2010. "Employment-based social capital, job stress, and employee burnout: A public child welfare employee structural model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 380-388, March.
    4. Smith, Brenda D., 2005. "Job retention in child welfare: Effects of perceived organizational support, supervisor support, and intrinsic job value," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 153-169, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Beer, Oliver W.J. & Phillips, Rebecca & Letson, Megan M. & Wolf, Kathryn G., 2021. "Personal and professional impacts of work-related stress alleviation strategies among child welfare workers in child advocacy center settings," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    2. José Ángel Martínez-López & Cristina Lázaro-Pérez & José Gómez-Galán, 2021. "Predictors of Burnout in Social Workers: The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Scenario for Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-14, May.
    3. Boonzaaier, Emma & Truter, Elmien & Fouché, Ansie, 2021. "Occupational risk factors in child protection social work: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    4. Aboagye, Michael Osei & Qin, Jinliang & Qayyum, Abdul & Antwi, Collins Opoku & Jababu, Yasin & Affum-Osei, Emmanuel, 2018. "Teacher burnout in pre-schools: A cross-cultural factorial validity, measurement invariance and latent mean comparison of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Educators Survey (MBI-ES)," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 186-197.
    5. Renate Willems & Constance Drossaert & Patricia Vuijk & Ernst Bohlmeijer, 2020. "Impact of Crisis Line Volunteering on Mental Wellbeing and the Associated Factors: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Sylvie Vincent-Höper & Julia C. Lengen & Maren Kersten & Sabine Gregersen, 2020. "Analysis of Job-Related Demands and Resources in Ambulatory Youth Welfare Services: A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-16, April.
    7. Griffiths, Austin & Royse, David & Walker, Robert, 2018. "Stress among child protective service workers: Self-reported health consequences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 46-53.

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