Lombardero-Posada XM, Méndez-Fernández AB, Aguiar-Fernández FX, Murcia-Álvarez E, González-Fernández A. Social Workers' Self-Care Practices: Buffering the Influence of Work-Family Interferences on Burnout and Engagement.
HEALTH & SOCIAL WORK 2022;
47:195-204. [PMID:
35640143 DOI:
10.1093/hsw/hlac010]
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Abstract
As a reaction to specific job stressors, social workers can experience job burnout. The job demands-resources theory posits that personal characteristics would mediate the influence of job stressors on either burnout or engagement. Within this framework, this cross-sectional research aimed to analyze the relationships between work-family interferences (as predictors), self-care practices (as mediators), and burnout and engagement (as outcomes). The sample included 437 graduate social workers from Spain. Structural equation modeling showed that family-work and work-family conflicts negatively predicted self-care practices and positively predicted burnout. Professional and personal self-care practices positively predicted engagement, negatively predicted burnout, and attenuated the impact of work-family interferences on burnout and engagement. To the authors' knowledge, the present article is the first to test the job demands-resources theory with these variables on social workers. The findings support interventions for social work students and professionals enhancing self-care practices to promote engagement and to reduce burnout, and highlight the need to decrease job stressors and enhance job resources for social workers.
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