When the job has lost its appeal: Intentions to quit among direct care workers

Abstract

Background Previous research indicates that work stress contributes to intentions to quit among direct care workers (DCWs) who provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Though resources can help DCWs cope and remain in a job, little is known about how various dimensions of work stress and resources (social and personal resources) are associated with intentions to quit.

Methods A total of 323 DCWs from 5 community-based IDD organisations completed a self-administered survey. We conducted multiple regression analyses to examine main and interaction effects of work stress and resources (work social support and internal locus of control) on intentions to quit.

Results Work overload was a significant stressor, and work social support (i.e., supervisory support) was associated with low intentions to quit. The association between locus of control and intention to quit depended on the levels of a stressor: DCWs’ lack of participation in decision-making.

Conclusions Supervisory support and an internal locus of control may assist DCWs in managing their stress.

Keywords:

• direct care worker
• intention to quit
• coping
• work social support
• locus of control

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the support and assistance of our colleagues from the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Research on Health and Aging, Institute for Health Research and Policy, and to Tamar Heller, Susan Hughes, Timothy Johnson, and Jesus Ramirez-Valles, as well as Megan Hart, Aimee Prawitz, Marc Stanley, Wendy Bostwick, Carolinda Douglass, Arlene Keddie, Jinsook Kim, Nancy LaCursia, and Maribel Valle for their comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.