Developing and Validating an Instrument for Measuring Social Worker Demands, Resources, and Risk for Stress

• In Event: 31.083 - International Perspectives on Occupational Stress, Coping, and Resilience in the Helping Professions

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument which measures the occupational stressors and resources of social workers in Germany. Theoretical background is provided by the transactional stress model of Lazarus and Folkman (1984). They describe stress as resulting from a perceived imbalance between resources and demands. When demands are appraised as greater than resources, situations are considered threatening and potentially stress inducing. Following the transactional model, the instrument called CARD-SW (Comparative Appraisal of Perceived Resources and Demands for Social Workers) measures the individual risk for stress of social workers through the difference between their appraisal of occupational specific stressors and resources. The instrument is adapted from the Classroom Appraisal of Resources and Demands – School-aged Version (CARD-SA), developed by Lambert, McCarthy, and Abbott-Shim (2001). Social work is a profession that has an increased risk for stress and stress-related diseases (Lloyd, King, & Chenoweth, 2002; Poulsen, 2009). Wieclaw et al. (2006) revealed that teachers and social workers were the two professions among all occupations with the highest risk to develop high stress levels. Coffey et al. (2009) conducted a study with social workers in Great Britain and showed that more than 36% of the participants had increased stress levels. In a more recent investigation by Schaer (2015), 80% of the participating social workers mentioned that stress highly influences their working life. However, social workers belong to a profession that is not well investigated (Allroggen et al., 2017). By now there are only a few findings concerning the particular occupational demands and resources of social workers, whether it be in Germany or internationally. This study aims to close this research gap by answering the following questions:
What kind of occupational demands and resources are reported by social workers?
What percentage of social workers in Germany are at risk for occupational stress?
What kind of occupational demands and resources influence their risk for stress?
Is there evidence for the reliability and validity of the CARD-SW?
The CARD-SW was developed using a mixed-methods approach. First, a quantitative online survey asking about social workers’ occupational demands and resources was conducted with over 100 participating social workers. Additionally, six semi-structured guided interviews were conducted to verify/falsify and extend the quantitative findings. These results were connected with findings from an extensive literature research to generate items for the CARD-SW. Evidence for the reliability and validity of the CARD-SW is presented from a subsequent sample of over 200 social workers. Relationships to measures for burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory; Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996) and for stress prevention resources (Preventive Resources Inventory; Ullrich, Lambert & McCarthy, 2012) are reported to show construct validity. Results from the CARD-SW are discussed in terms of their implications for creating social work specific trainings and interventions. Implications for facilitating stress-reducing resources, and protecting social workers against stress-promoting demands, are also provided with a focus on strategies for reducing occupational stress and preventing stress-related diseases in the social work profession.

Author

• Cornelia Krüger, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences