Work Support, Role Stress, and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Social Workers: The Mediation Role of Work-Family Conflict

Work-family conflict, role clarity, and psychological depression among female social workers: The moderating role of social support

The tendency of psychological depression among social workers is increasingly evident and has become a significant public health concern. We explore the associations between work-family conflict (WFC), role clarity, social support, and psychological depression, with a sample of 944 Chinese female social workers. Our results show that WFC has a significant positive influence on the psychological depression experienced by female social workers, particularly among those who are unmarried. Role clarity serves as a partial mediator between WFC and psychological depression, while social support acts as a positive moderator in mitigating the impact of WFC on psychological depression. Our findings offer both theoretical insights and practical guidance for effectively addressing WFC and psychological depression among female social workers.

Analysis of turnover intention and influencing factors among female nurses with two children in Grade A tertiary public hospitals in Sichuan province: a cross-sectional study

Objective

This study aims to examine the current status of turnover intention among female nurses with two children and explore the factors influencing their decision to resign, ultimately providing a basis for reducing nurses' turnover intention and stabilizing the nursing workforce.

Methods

A convenience sampling method was used to select 1,370 in-service female nurses with two children from 65 Grade A tertiary public hospitals in Sichuan Province from September to December 2023. Data was collected through a general information questionnaire, work-family behavioral role conflict scale, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and turnover intention scale.

Results

This study revealed that the average score for turnover intention among female nurses with two children was (13.11 ± 3.93). There was a positive correlation between work-family behavioral role conflict and turnover intention (r = 0.485, p < 0.01), while regulatory emotional self-efficacy showed a negative correlation with turnover intention (r = -0.382, p < 0.01). The main influencing factors for resignation among these nurses included age, number of night shifts per month, average monthly income, primary caregiver for children, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, and the ability to express positive emotions (POS), the capacity to regulate negative emotions such as despondency/distress (DES), and the skill to manage anger/irritation (ANG). Collectively, these factors explained 29.5% of the total variance in turnover intention scores.

Conclusion

Turnover intention among female nurses with two children is relatively high. To address this issue, hospital managers shall implement effective measures through various channels to settle work-family conflict, enhance nurses' regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and reduce turnover intention resulting from work-family conflict. Together, these efforts will reduce nurse turnover and foster a stable nursing workforce.

How does the work-life balance impact stress on primary healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic?

BACKGROUND

Most studies in advanced care settings reported that the increasing workload increases the work-life imbalance and harms the mental health of health workers. The COVID-19 Pandemic's tracing, testing, treatment, and mass vaccination also have multiplied the primary healthcare workers' workload. Nevertheless, studies on primary care workers are scarce. This study aimed to investigate how the COVID-19-related work-life balance impact stress on primary healthcare workers in the third years of the pandemic.

METHODS

The study was a cross-sectional, web-based survey conducted on primary healthcare workers in Kediri Regency, Indonesia, with the highest Omicron case surge worldwide. It was conducted right after the surge between July and August 2022, the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic hit Indonesia. Under coordination with the local government health officials, primary healthcare workers were invited to participate in an online survey. The respondents were asked to evaluate their sociodemography, work conditions, personal life, and perceived stress (using the Perceived Stress Scale) during the pandemic. Their work-life balance was evaluated using the Work/Non-work Interference and Enhancement Scale. We used several hierarchical linear regression models to determine which variables contribute to work stress among primary healthcare workers.

RESULTS

Sociodemographic characteristics, including gender, age, marital status, years of professional experience, and educational level, were not significantly associated with stress levels among our respondents. Separately, work conditions and personal life variables did not associate with stress levels. However, primary healthcare workers' work and personal lives interfere with each other during the pandemic and are associated with their higher stress.

CONCLUSION

During the pandemic, the work life of primary health workers interferes with their personal life more than the interference of personal life on their work life. At the same time, the work life's enhancement on the personal life and vice versa were lower than its interference. Those conditions are associated with higher perceived stress of primary health workers.

Burnout, negative emotions, and wellbeing among social workers in China after community lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating roles of trait mindfulness

Objective

This study aimed to investigate burnout situation of social workers (SWs) who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic-related community lockdown 1 year before, and to assess the protective value of trait mindfulness (TM) in states of burnout.

Method

We surveyed the burnout, trait mindfulness, negative emotions (NEs) and wellbeing (WB) of 182 social workers provided services to Wuhan lockdowns community by COVID-19 one year before. Burnout were measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey; TM using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; NEs using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21; and WB using the General Wellbeing Schedule. We also performed correlation regression analysis and mediation test for burnout, TM, NEs, and WB.

Results

Among the 182 respondents, 75 (41.2%) still suffered from severe burnout. TM was negatively correlated with burnout (r = -0.623), negatively correlated with NEs (r = -0.560), and positively correlated with WB (r = 0.617). Burnout had a significantly positive correlation with NEs (r = 0.544) and a significantly negative correlation with WB (r = -0.666). Further, WB had significantly negative correlation with NEs (r = -0.758). After controlling for age, gender, marital status, educational level, and years of employment, burnout had a significantly positive predictive effect on NEs (β = 0.509), whereas TM had a significantly negative predictive effect on NEs (β = -0.334). TM played a partial mediating role in the effect of burnout on NEs, with a mediating effect and effect ratio of 0.088 and 39.7%, respectively. Burnout had a significantly negative predictive effect on WB (β = -0.598), whereas TM had a significantly positive predictive effect on WB (β = 0.299). TM played a partial mediating role in the effect of burnout on NEs, with a mediating effect and effect ratio of -0.164 and 30.3%, respectively. WB had a significantly negative predictive effect on NEs (β = -0.711), and it played a partial mediating role in the effect of burnout on NEs, with a mediating effect and effect ratio of 0.185 and 83.3%, respectively.

Conclusion

The current levels of burnout among local SWs remained high 1 year after the community lockdowns. TM played a mediating role in the relationship between burnout, NEs, and WB. Concomitantly, WB played a mediating role in the relationship between burnout and NEs. Therefore, in the context of burnout, TM is a protective factor for reducing emotional stress and risks of developing psychiatric disorders through the enhancement of WB.

Exploration of the Socioecological Determinants of Hong Kong Workers' Work-Life Balance: A Grounded Theory Model

BACKGROUND

Although a growing body of research has investigated the theoretical and empirical models of work-life balance (WLB), the propositions of this phenomenon remain nonunified. Thus, a grounded theory approach was adopted to explore the viewpoints of workers regarding WLB and its determinants and consequences.

METHODS

Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted to investigate the attitudes and experiences of Hong Kong workers towards WLB, in which 50 workers were interviewed. All data of interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded into five levels of the socioecological framework (i.e., intrapersonal level, interpersonal level, organisational level, community and government policy).

RESULTS

The grounded theory model established that work-life balance and personal context mutually affected each other, and work-life balance was unidirectionally affected by the environmental context. The ability to maintain a continual satisfied physical and mental states among multiple roles under the emergence of unexpected environmental factors was proposed as the definition of work-life balance.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study offer essential research insights into the importance of WLB, the dynamic features for workers to sustain balance and constructing a reliable and exhaustive assessment model for work-life balance for future studies.