A Look at the Impact of Work Stressors on Social Workers Outside the Western Context: A Cross-Sectional Study of Salvadoran Social Workers

Background and Purpose:

The impact of workplace stressors on the affective and psychological well-being of social workers has been widely studied but most of this research has been disproportionately carried in out in Western countries. As social work practice grows globally, it is important to examine workplace experiences and the well-being of our social work colleagues in various national and cultural settings. Findings from this study aim to highlight the impact of workplace stressors on worker well-being among a sample of 68 Salvadoran social workers.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study utilizes self-administered survey data gathered from a stress, burnout, and well-being pilot study conducted in El Salvador. Sixty-eight Salvadoran social workers participated in the study after being recruited via an email invitation sent by National Association of Salvadoran Social Work members in the summer of 2014. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the impact of job stress (role conflict and role ambiguity) and work-family conflict on job satisfaction and psychological well-being (GHQ-9) while controlling for organizational tenure. The central study variables (e.g. job stress, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being) were measured using multi-item scales.

Results:

The control variable, tenure, was found to be positively and significantly related to job satisfaction (b= .01, SE= .006, p≤.01) but not psychological well-being (GHQ-9).  Job stress, measured as role ambiguity (b= -.37, SE= .17, p ≤.05) and role conflict (b= -.17, SE= .07, p ≤.05) were both negatively related to job satisfaction Work-family conflict was only found to be significantly related to psychological well-being (b= -.82, SE= .35, p ≤.05).

 Conclusions and Implications:

The study results point to the negative impact of job stress on the job satisfaction of social workers. Work-family conflict was found to be negatively related to the psychological well-being of the social workers in the study sample. The findings in this study align with previous social work, workforce studies and thus suggest that the work stressors examined here are generalizable across cultural contexts. As the field of social work grows globally, so does the need to examine how the work environment impacts social worker in an effort to implement organizational practices that help protect the well-being of social workers. Future studies should seek to compare levels of job stress and work-family conflict of social workers in various cultural contexts.