Work Engagement, Burnout and Personal Accomplishments Among Social Workers: A Comparison Between Those Working in Children and Adults' Services in England

Adm Policy Ment Health. 2018 Nov;45(6):911-923. doi: 10.1007/s10488-018-0872-z.

Abstract

Social workers (SWs) provide emotional and practical support to vulnerable service users who are likely to suffer from emotional trauma and mental health conditions. Stress and burnout levels are reported to be high among SWs, however, little is known about their relationships with different characteristics. The current article utilises unique and large dataset (n = 3786) on SWs working in adults and children's services to examine factors associated with burnout. Employing job-demand/resources model and structural equations modelling, we highlight the varying significant impact of work-engagement, administrative support and work experience as moderating factors to burnout across adult and children service specialism in this sample.

Keywords: Adult social work; Children and families social work; Emotional work; Maslach burnout inventory; Mental wellbeing.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Burnout, Professional / epidemiology
  • Burnout, Professional / psychology*
  • Child
  • Child Welfare*
  • England / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Health Status
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Social Work*
  • Social Workers / psychology*
  • Social Workers / statistics & numerical data
  • Work Engagement*