The effects of social, familial, and economic stress on social workers working with disabled individuals

Abstract

Summary This study aimed to employ a social survey method to define the social, familial, and economic stresses experienced by a sample of 135 Saudi social workers who work with people with disabilities. It also aimed to understand the impact of these stresses on the degree of burnout these workers experienced in the following three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Findings We found that the degree of social, familial, and economic stress among social workers was moderate, whereas the degree of depersonalization was high; emotional exhaustion was medium; and personal accomplishment was low. We found a medium proportional correlation between the total stress experienced by a social worker and the emotional exhaustion they were likely to experience, which had a weak inverse correlation with personal accomplishment. Social workers’ total stress predicted their burnout to be 18.7% in terms of emotional exhaustion, 19.6% for depersonalization, and 7.5% for personal accomplishment. These predicted values also differed with regards to each focus. There was no correlation between workers’ burnout and the quantitative demographic variations. Applications The social and familial stresses encountered by social workers working with disabled individuals should be considered in order to map the causes of their suffering and, ultimately, to establish ways of alleviating the severity of the burnout they experience. Finally, there was evidence to support the idea that a review of their monthly salaries might serve as a solution to burnout.