Child welfare workers and peritraumatic distress: The impact of COVID-19

Miller, J. Jay; Niu, Chunling; Moody, Shannon

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105508

Cited by 38 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In line with our study, in the range of moderate to high and severe levels of burnout are reported about 60% of social workers [30,32], even before the pandemic outbreak. A study that examined COVID-19 related peritraumatic distress (the physiological and/or emotional distress experienced by an individual during a traumatic event) among child welfare workers (N=1996) in US indicating that nearly half of all participants (46.4%) scored in a range indicating mild or severe peritraumatic distress that may lead to professional burnout as the authors state [4]. The only study on burnout during the pandemic in Romania identified show higher levels of work related and personal burnout among employees in the human resources department (M=2.23, SD=0.81), compared to those in a technical department (M=1.76, SD=0.62) in a multinational company [45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High job demands and low resources are known to be the primary reasons for burnout [51]. Stress factors related to clients refer primarily to the lack of direct contact, the risk of being a carrier (asymptomatic) and contamination in two ways -both by the social worker and by the beneficiary [4,7], difficulties related to technology (absence of it or digital skills) and sometimes managing fears, panic of beneficiaries. It is important to mention the factor "the desire to help more than I could do", present in almost half of the social workers included in the study, an indicator of the social worker's mission.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Study results show that personal exhaustion scores are the highest, close to the workrelated burnout. In addition to professional challenges, social work practitioners may be coping with personal challenges, such as homeschooling, caregiving, economic uncertainty, and the like, that may impact their professional roles [4]. Literature on occupational stress and coping evidence that the more proficient copers were most likely to have a clear self-care plan, participate in activities or hobbies, and have a work-to-home transition plan [32], maintain a healthy physical state through regular exercise, a nutritional diet and good sleep and a strong mental state intellectually, emotionally and spiritually [54].…”

Section: Implications For Social Work Practitionersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on social work during the pandemic published so far are few, the researchers' interest focusing especially on the medical field. [3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stress and Burnout Among Social Workers in The VUCA world of COVID-19 Pandemic

Dima¹,

Meseșan-Schmitz²,

Șimon³

2021

Preprint

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This paper aims to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social workers and the social work profession in Romania. Research has shown that social work is a profession at high risk for developing the burnout syndrome, which has many detrimental effects on both social workers and the clients that they serve. Two conceptual models are used to frame the discussion: the theoretical framework of VUCA (volatility, uncer-tainty, complexity, and ambiguity) to discuss the challenges of the unprecedented context the COVID-19 pandemic has created for social workers; stress and burnout to explain the negative impact of this period of time. Based on convergent mixt methods, the study sample consisted of 83 social workers employed in statutory and private social services in Romania, from different fields of intervention. Results show that 25,3% of respondents suffer from a high level of burnout and 44.6% scored in a range that indicate a medium level of burnout. A group of 31.1% have managed to handle stress factors in a healthy manner. Main stressors found are especially personal (fear of contamination, personal and family) and work-related factors (workload, new legislative rules and decisions, inconsistency, instability, ambiguity of managerial decisions, or even their absence or non-assumption, lack of clarity of working procedures, limited managerial and supervisory support, limited financial resources), less than client related factors (lack of direct contact, risk of contami-nation in two ways, managing beneficiaries fears, difficulties related to technology and digital skills). Study results point to the importance of organizational support and developing a self-care plan that help protect against occupational stress and burnout. Recommendations are made putting forward the voice of fieldworkers and managers fostering initiatives and applications of sustainability-based measures and activities designed to deal with the challenges of the VUCA environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Social Work Practitionersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on social work during the pandemic published so far are few, the researchers' interest focusing especially on the medical field. [3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Stress and Burnout Among Social Workers in The VUCA world of COVID-19 Pandemic

Dima¹,

Meseșan-Schmitz²,

Șimon³

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Research on the unique and increased challenges faced by child welfare professionals during COVID-19 is emerging. Miller et al, (2020b) found that child welfare workers in the US reported above-normal levels of stress. Jentsch and Schnock (2020) found that child welfare workers in Germany also experienced heightened stress during COVID-19, which the authors suggested may be due in part to workers’ concerns about effectively identifying potential cases of child maltreatment absent the support normally provided by teachers and others, as well as the difficulty of maintaining contact with clients while abiding by physical distancing rules.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 on child welfare-involved families: Implications for parent–child reunification and child welfare professionals

Goldberg

Brodzinsky

Singer

et al. 2021

Developmental Child Welfare

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The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children and parents involved in the child welfare system and the professionals working with these families. Using survey data collected August–September of 2020, this mixed-methods study examined the perspectives of 196 child welfare-involved professionals (77 attorneys, 99 caseworkers, and 20 therapists) in the United States about the impact of COVID-19 on parents of origin, children, foster parents, and child welfare professionals. Particular attention was paid to the implications of COVID-19 and associated challenges for parent–child contact and reunification. With respect to professional stresses, more than half of participants worried about their own personal safety and health amidst COVID-19, and more than three-quarters expressed concerns about the safety and well-being of child welfare-involved families. Participants, especially attorneys, expressed concerns about parent–child contact and disruptions to reunification. In-person parent–child visits had all but ceased during the early part of the pandemic, and participants identified barriers to effective virtual visits, including lack of foster parent oversight, technology issues, and children’s developmental stage and/or lack of engagement. Attorneys were especially critical of the cessation of in-person visits and viewed this as a serious threat to child-parent bonds and reunification. Participants, especially child welfare workers, voiced concerns about children’s mental health and educational outcomes amidst the pandemic. Findings have implications for attorneys, child welfare workers, and other practitioners who directly and indirectly interface with child welfare-involved families.

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Peritraumatic distress across the lifespan: Clinical implications of age differences during the COVID‐19 pandemic

et al. 2022

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The Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI) is a well‐known self‐report questionnaire indexing the distress experienced during and shortly after a most stressful or traumatic event. Although sociodemographic factors contributing to peritraumatic distress have been previously investigated, no research has examined the nature and severity of peritraumatic distress reactions in a non‐clinical, community sample as a function of age. An international sample of 5621 adult participants were grouped according the World Health Organization's age stratification protocol. Mean scores and item endorsement on the PDI were compared across groups with respect to their worst experience of the COVID‐19 pandemic. A significant between‐group difference was found, F (55,615) = 30.74, p < 0.001, n 2 = 0.027 whereby participants aged 18–39 years old reported the highest levels of peritraumatic distress. This group also endorsed a higher proportion of items on the PDI's two main factors (emotional distress and physical reactions), and were more likely to endorse feelings of helplessness, than older participants. It appears that severity of peritraumatic distress during the pandemic has affected younger people the most. Results are discussed in light of clinical implications.

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Child welfare workers and peritraumatic distress: The impact of COVID-19

Cited by 38 publications

References 28 publications

Stress and Burnout Among Social Workers in The VUCA world of COVID-19 Pandemic

Stress and Burnout Among Social Workers in The VUCA world of COVID-19 Pandemic

The impact of COVID-19 on child welfare-involved families: Implications for parent–child reunification and child welfare professionals

Peritraumatic distress across the lifespan: Clinical implications of age differences during the COVID‐19 pandemic

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