Pediatric Occupational Therapists and Occupational Stress: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The purpose of this scoping review was to provide further insight into the stress and the stressors experienced by pediatric occupational therapists in the work environment. Using the Arksey and O'Malley framework, the search was conducted in eight databases, nine electronic journals, and eight gray literature sources to identify articles related to stress and stressors of pediatric occupational therapists. Review selection and characterization were performed by two independent reviewers. Twelve articles published from 2011 to 2020 were identified and varied in terms of purpose, population, and results although the articles all shared similar methodologies and outcome measures. Only 25% of the articles (3/12) addressed pediatric occupational therapy stress and stressors directly while the remaining addressed occupational stress, but with varying levels of attention to pediatric occupational therapists. Stress and stressors experienced by pediatric occupational therapists have been studied to a limited extent. Occupational stress is associated with increased burnout, decreased health, and decreased job satisfaction and performance. Several knowledge gaps have been identified, as well as priorities for future research into pediatric occupational therapists and occupational stress.

Keywords:

• Burnout
• occupational stress
• occupational therapists
• occupational therapy
• pediatrics
• quality of life
• work

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher A. Goffredo

Christopher Goffredo, is a board-certified pediatric occupational therapist with over a decade of clinical experience in outpatient pediatric settings. During his time as an occupational therapist, he has also worked as an adjunct professor mentoring students on several thesis projects and teaching various courses. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate with the school of occupational therapy at Texas Woman’s University. His areas of research include pediatrics, occupational stress, work, and well-being.

Patricia Bowyer

Patricia Bowyer, has been an occupational therapist for over 20 years. During that time, she has been involved in practice, research and education. Based on experiences in these various professional roles, a keen interest arose in the application of theory in practice, specifically the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO). This ranges from the impact of MOHO on occupational therapists clinical reasoning to improving levels of participation for children, youth, and adults through the development of theory-based assessments and interventions. Patricia completed a postdoc at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to this, she worked full-time as an occupational therapist in a variety of settings including school, home health, acute care, SNF, inpatient, and outpatient.

Helena I.S. Reis

Helena Reis, Ph.D. in Child Studies and Special Education by the Institute of Education of the University of Minho. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic of Leiria and a researcher in the Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology and the Center for Health Technology and Services Research. She is an occupational therapist in the field of early childhood intervention with strong scientific interests in sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and developmental disorders.

John Humphrey

John J. Humphrey, MLS is both a Library Manager & the Health Sciences Librarian at Texas Woman’s University, Dallas, where he has taught for the last five years. Prior to this position, Mr. Humphrey studied and worked in different libraries both at home and internationally. He specializes in systematic reviews having trained in Cochrane and Joanna Briggs Institute methodologies. He is a co-author on a number of scoping/systematic reviews and has given multiple workshops on the topic.