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The current study examined the relationships among work support, role stress, work-family conflict, and life satisfaction, with a sample of social workers in China’s Pearl River Delta (N = 1414). Using structure equation modelling, the study revealed that social workers’ life satisfaction reduced because of role conflict and work-family conflicts. Work-family conflict partially mediated the negative effects of role ambiguity and conflict on social workers’ life satisfaction. Work support from their director, manager, supervisor, and co-workers protectively reduced role stress and work-family conflict. The findings emphasize the significance of managing the interference between work and family for social workers’ well-being.

Employment is a vital component of a substance abuser’s recovery, but little is known about how stigma affects employment for substance abusers receiving treatment. The current study investigates the effects of stigma and treatment on employment in the Chinese context. Using a sample of substance abusers (N = 3, 978), multiple logistics regressions with moderation effects were employed. The findings show that treatments positively reduce confirmative experiences of anticipated stigma, and promote employment only when respondents do not perceive stigma. The findings highlight the impact of perceived stigma on limiting substance abusers’ chances of being employed, implying that eliminating stigma is the foundation for recovery. Possible strategies that can be explored for reducing stigma are discussed.

Summary The current study employed the Stress-Strain-Outcome model to understand the structural process of work support, work-family conflict (WFC), burnout, and job satisfaction among Chinese social workers. Using structural equation modeling, we employed a survey dataset of 1,414 social workers to estimate how burnout mediated the influences of work support and WFC on job satisfaction. Findings The results revealed that WFC directly promotes all three dimensions of burnout (i.e., depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and reduced personal accomplishment), and indirectly impairs job satisfaction through the partial mediation of emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment, net of role stresses or other demographic characteristics. Work support eased burnout and promoted job satisfaction. Applications We highlight that WFC is a noteworthy job stressor impairing social workers’ vocational health. Possible initiatives to promote social support and prevent such stressors are recommended.

Compensated dating (CD) has emerged as a global concern since the 1990s. Although considerable empirical research has been conducted to assess the patterns of and factors influencing CD, limited information is currently available on the attitudes of guardians (e.g., social workers, police officers, parents of students, and community representatives) in a Chinese community toward this issue. Using survey data collected from 962 guardians, the current study analyzes the guardians' perceptions of CD and their self-efficacy in handling this issue. Results show that these guardians perceive CD to be exploitative or harmful and that their self-efficacy in handling this issue was low. In particular, social workers appeared to be considerably tolerant for this phenomenon. Perceptions of CD were partly predictable by age, gender, and educational attainment, whereas self-efficacy was partly predictable by experience working with cases involving CD. This study represents the first attempt to analyze the guardians' views on a new form of child abuse. Moreover, this research has implications for social intervention, policy, and future research.

This article presents public discourses on compensated dating of adolescent girls in Chinese society. Data are obtained from eight focus groups comprising 50 guardians at private, parochial, and public levels (i.e., social workers, police officers, parents of students, and community representatives). Qualitative data are used to demonstrate how the guardians conceptualize and contextualize compensated dating as an outcome of the dynamics of societal features. Social features such as contemporary ideologies, Internet technology advancement, commercialization of human relationships, and ambiguity between "right" and "wrong" motivate the service providers and customers of compensated dating, and accelerate their convergence and weakened levels of guardianship in society. This study is the first to connect the features of compensated dating of adolescent girls with recent societal changes using the routine activity approach. The findings confirm the application of the routine activity approach in the phenomenon of girls' compensated dating, and also offer theoretical and practical implications.

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