Exploring stress, coping, and health outcomes among social workers

ABSTRACT

The continued prevalence and severity of stress among social workers, despite previous efforts to address the phenomenon, implies that current prevention and intervention strategies are ineffective. This may be partly due to a needed shift in research from the quantification of stress, to understanding the role that individual cognitive, and emotional mechanisms play in work-related stress and coping behaviours. The specific objectives of this qualitative study were: (1) to understand social workers’ perceptions of work-related stressors, and (2) to explore social workers’ emotional and behavioural coping responses to work-related stress. Based on semi-structured interviews (n = 7), three key themes emerged: (1) challenges of the work environment, (2) impact of work-related stress, and (3) responses to work-related stress. Cognitive appraisals played a role not only how practitioners experience stress, but also the behavioural responses that follow. Furthermore, participants’ perceptions of social norms regarding emotional control and coping appeared to have multiple paths of influence. While there were individual differences in the specific environments, commonalities were also found regarding both experiencing stress and resultant coping efforts. Findings indicate the need for tailored interventions that specifically target social workers’ appraisals and behavioural mechanisms, in addition to the environmental factors that trigger these responses.

KEYWORDS:

• ‘Social Work’
• ‘Stress and Coping’
• ‘Cognitive Appraisals’
• ‘Substances’
• ‘Professions’
• ‘Mental Health’

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Sharvari Karandikar, the College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, for her unwavering insight, support, and encouragement. The authors would also like to thank Ambir Myers, the College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, for her editorial assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Oliver W. J. Beer

Oliver Beer is in his third year of the doctoral programme at The Ohio State University, College of Social Work. He earned his B.A. in Social Work from The Open University and an MSc in Social Research Methods from the University of Plymouth, UK. Oliver is a Registered social worker in England, his experience includes child welfare and children with additional needs. Oliver’s research interests include the health and well-being of social workers, particularly practitioners’ responses to work-related stress and their subsequent coping efforts. Oliver is particularly interested in mindfulness meditation as a buffer against the effects of work-related stress. Oliver has presented his research in the UK, US, Japan, and Mexico. Oliver’s research has been published by the British Journal of Social Work, Child Abuse & Neglect, British Association of Social Workers, and Community Care. In addition, he has a co-authored book chapter in press.

Rebecca Phillips

Rebecca Phillips received her MSW from The Ohio State University in May of 2017, focusing on Community and Social Justice. Prior to this, she received an M.A. in Child Development and Human Studies from Tufts University, as well as dual B.A.s in Psychology and English from the University of Rochester. Between graduating from Tufts and attending OSU Becky worked in the community mental health field in Burlington, Vermont, where she first provided in-home family-based therapeutic services before becoming a clinical supervisor for this team. Becky is a third-year doctoral student interested in policy development and implementation, particularly as it applies to health and human organisations, and the well-being of those employed within them. She is especially passionate about researching these topics through a social justice lens; specifically, applying multi-level intersectional theories to study designs and methods, in order to promote equitable policies and practices that are in the best interest of the communities they affect.

Camille R. Quinn

Camille R. Quinn, PhD, AM, LCSW, LISW is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, College of Social Work. Dr. Quinn has over 20 years of social work and research experience in social and health community-based services. Her primary research investigates individual and structural barriers associated with recidivism and comorbid mental health disparities of youth and young adults. Her mixed methods research is guided by race-based, criminological, and social determinants of health theories to inform culturally tailor interventions for youth of colour to reduce their recidivism and mental health burden. In 2018, Dr. Quinn was appointed to the Ohio Governors’ Council on Juvenile Justice. Currently, Dr. Quinn is a Co-Investigator on a NIMH-funded R01 ‘Identifying periods of high risk and predictors of suicide for youth in public child-serving systems’ to develop an algorithm to assess suicide risk of youth involved in public-serving systems. She is also partnering with the Ohio Department of Youth Services to investigate and racial differences in aggression, criminal offense, and comorbid mental health problems while in corrections, as well as structural barriers associated with recidivism and mental health problems when they re-enter society.