“Engaged, Burned Out, or Both?” A Structural Equation Model Testing Risk and Protective Factors for Social Workers in Refugee and Homeless Aid
Abstract
:1. Background
1.1. Theoretical Background
1.2. Study Aims
1.3. Hypotheses
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Recruitment of Participants
2.2. Variables
2.2.1. Demographic and Workplace Variables
2.2.2. Job Demands and Resources
2.2.3. Work Engagement
2.2.4. Personal Burnout
2.2.5. Resilience
2.3. Data Analysis
2.4. Ethical Considerations
3. Results
3.1. Characteristics of the Study Population
3.2. Descriptive Analysis
3.3. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)
3.3.1. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)
3.3.2. Structural Model
4. Discussion
4.1. Working Conditions of Social Workers in Refugee and Homeless Aid
4.2. Strengths and Limitations
4.3. Implications for Future Research and Practice
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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n | % a | |
---|---|---|
Gender | 240 | |
Female | 165 | 68.8 |
Male | 75 | 31.3 |
Age | 243 | |
≤24 years | 1 | 0.4 |
25–34 years | 72 | 29.6 |
35–44 years | 66 | 27.2 |
45–54 years | 51 | 21.0 |
≥55 years | 53 | 21.8 |
Work area | 242 | |
Homeless aid | 120 | 49.6 |
Refugee aid | 94 | 38.8 |
Both areas | 28 | 11.6 |
Professional qualification | 246 * | |
Social worker | 153 | 62.2 |
Educator | 6 | 2.4 |
Social care worker/remedial therapist | 4 | 1.6 |
Humanities scholar | 23 | 9.3 |
Law, economics and social sciences | 45 | 18.3 |
Health-related apprenticeship | 8 | 3.3 |
Business-related apprenticeship | 4 | 1.6 |
Other | 3 | 1.2 |
Work experience in social work | 242 | |
0–3 years | 65 | 26.9 |
4–10 years | 79 | 32.6 |
11–20 years | 37 | 15.3 |
>20 years | 61 | 25.2 |
Type of institution | 235 | |
Outpatient counselling centre | 53 | 22.6 |
Day care centre, overnight accommodation | 21 | 8.9 |
Initial registration centre | 3 | 1.3 |
Shared accommodation, residential/transition home | 97 | 41.3 |
Outpatient assisted living | 48 | 20.4 |
Street social work, street magazine | 3 | 1.3 |
Emergency shelter | 3 | 1.3 |
Management, coordination, head office | 7 | 3.0 |
Sponsor of institution | 241 | |
Independent sponsor (non-profit, charity, church) | 181 | 75.1 |
Public sponsor | 57 | 23.7 |
Commercial sponsor (profit-oriented) | 3 | 1.2 |
Federal state | 243 | |
Berlin | 93 | 38.3 |
Hamburg | 90 | 37.0 |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 24 | 9.9 |
Schleswig-Holstein | 36 | 14.8 |
Variables | Mean | SD | Range | Minimum | Maximum | α |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quantitative demands | 53.96 | 17.38 | 0–100 | 0 | 100 | 0.79 |
Emotional demands | 66.24 | 15.97 | 0–100 | 8.33 | 100 | 0.77 |
Meaning of work | 81.40 | 17.42 | 0–100 | 16.67 | 100 | 0.85 |
Social support | 72.76 | 20.51 | 0–100 | 12.50 | 100 | 0.81 |
Work engagement | 68.74 | 11.17 | 0–100 | 0 | 100 | 0.84 |
Personal burnout | 48.00 | 20.30 | 0–100 | 3.83 | 100 | 0.91 |
Resilience | 61.32 | 18.97 | 13–91 | 32.00 | 90 | 0.88 |
Variables | Quantitative Demands | Emotional Demands | Meaning of Work | Social Support | Work Engagement | Personal Burnout | Resilience |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quantitative demands | − | ||||||
Emotional demands | 0.37 *** | − | |||||
Meaning of work | 0.08 | 0.03 | − | ||||
Social support | −0.24 *** | −0.16 * | 0.22 ** | − | |||
Work engagement | −0.02 | −0.15 * | 0.68 *** | 0.22 ** | − | ||
Personal burnout | 0.38 *** | 0.44 *** | −0.24 *** | −0.22 *** | −0.41 *** | − | |
Resilience | −0.05 | −0.22 *** | 0.34 *** | 0.16 * | 0.43 *** | −0.55 *** | − |
Variables | CR | AVE | √ AVE | Correlations |
---|---|---|---|---|
Quantitative demands | 0.71 | 0.55 | 0.74 | −0.24–0.45 |
Emotional demands | 0.78 | 0.54 | 0.73 | −0.25–0.50 |
Meaning of work | 0.85 | 0.66 | 0.81 | −0.26–0.79 |
Social support | 0.79 | 0.52 | 0.72 | −0.24–0.25 |
Work engagement | 0.85 | 0.66 | 0.81 | −0.15–0.79 |
Personal burnout | 0.91 | 0.63 | 0.79 | −0.63–0.50 |
Resilience | 0.88 | 0.37 | 0.61 | −0.63–0.47 |
Personal Burnout | Work Engagement | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
β | (95% CI) | SE | p | Β | (95% CI) | SE | p | |
Quantitative demands | 0.28 | (0.14; 0.410 | 0.09 | 0.002 | −0.04 | (−0.18; 0.090 | 0.08 | 0.54 |
Emotional demands | 0.26 | (0.13; 0.40) | 0.08 | <0.001 | −0.13 | (−0.26; 0.02) | 0.08 | 0.08 |
Meaning of work | −0.14 | (−0.28; −0.01) | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.74 | (0.59; 0.87) | 0.12 | <0.001 |
Social support | 0.01 | (−0.12; 0.14) | 0.08 | 0.85 | 0.02 | (−0.13; 0.15) | 0.09 | 0.86 |
Resilience | −0.49 | (−0.60; −0.35) | 1.54 | <0.001 | 0.16 | (0.02; 0.29) | 1.27 | 0.02 |
Quantitative demands * Resilience | 0.07 | (−0.01; 0.16) | 0.05 | 0.10 | − | − | − | − |
Emotional demands * Resilience | −0.07 | (−0.16; 0.02) | 0.05 | 0.12 | − | − | − | − |
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Mette, J.; Robelski, S.; Wirth, T.; Nienhaus, A.; Harth, V.; Mache, S. “Engaged, Burned Out, or Both?” A Structural Equation Model Testing Risk and Protective Factors for Social Workers in Refugee and Homeless Aid. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020583
Mette J, Robelski S, Wirth T, Nienhaus A, Harth V, Mache S. “Engaged, Burned Out, or Both?” A Structural Equation Model Testing Risk and Protective Factors for Social Workers in Refugee and Homeless Aid. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(2):583. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020583
Chicago/Turabian StyleMette, Janika, Swantje Robelski, Tanja Wirth, Albert Nienhaus, Volker Harth, and Stefanie Mache. 2020. "“Engaged, Burned Out, or Both?” A Structural Equation Model Testing Risk and Protective Factors for Social Workers in Refugee and Homeless Aid" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 2: 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020583