The Effects of Childhood Maltreatment History, Individual Characteristics, and Workplace Factors on Psychological Distress and Sleep Disturbance Among Florida's Newly-Hired Child Welfare Workers

Background and Purpose: Child welfare (CW) workers with maltreatment histories may be at increased risk for poor mental health and professional outcomes. Research indicates that individual characteristics, mental health, and workplace factors exacerbate the effects of childhood abuse and neglect. However, little research has focused on how workers with maltreatment histories fare when entering the field. Using a developmental/attachment framework, this presentation addresses the following research questions: (1) Do psychological distress and sleep disturbance increase for all CW workers from Wave 1 (W1) to Wave 2 (W2)?, (2) Is childhood maltreatment associated with increased psychological distress and sleep disturbance at W2?, and (3) Do individual characteristics and workplace factors influence psychological distress and sleep disturbance at W2? 

Methods: Data were analyzed from the first two waves of The Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families (FSPSF), a longitudinal study of newly-hired frontline CW workers. Participants were recruited during pre-service trainings across the state of Florida. Surveys were administered online. To be included in these analyses, participants remained employed in CW at W2. The final sample of 931 was overwhelmingly female (85%) and predominantly identified as White (55%) and Black (35%).The mean age was 31 (SD= 9.3). About 40% reported childhood maltreatment. Two hierarchical regressions were conducted using psychological distress and sleep disturbance at W2 as dependent variables.

Results: Overall, psychological distress increased by 47% from W1 to W2 (t=-21.81,p<.0 01).Workers with maltreatment histories scored 1.6 points higher at W1 (t=-6.2,p<.001) and 1.82 points higher at W2 on psychological distress (t=-4.37,p=.002) compared to workers without maltreatment histories. Similarly, sleep disturbance increased by 32% from W1 to W2 (t=-17.15,p<.001).Workers with maltreatment histories scored 1.29 points higher at W1 (t=-5.84,p<.001) and 1.19 points higher at W2 on sleep disturbance (t=-4.56,p=.007) compared to those without maltreatment histories. The final model of the psychological distress regression had an adjusted r² value of .57. The following variables were significant: age (b=-.05,p=.01),W1 psychological distress (b=.48,p<.001), stress (b=.86,p<.001), work self-efficacy (b= -.08,p= .02), and work stress (b= .15,p= .002).The final model of the sleep disturbance regression had an adjusted r² value of .35. The following variables were significant: race (b=-1.05,p=.02), W1 sleep disturbance (b=.46,p<.001), stress (b= .33,p< .001), and work stress (b=.1,p=.03).

Conclusions and Implications: Childhood maltreatment history is pervasive in Florida’s CW workforce, occurring at a higher rate than in the general population. These findings also reveal that all workers experienced increased psychological distress and sleep disturbance early in employment, with higher levels evident among those with childhood maltreatment histories. Further, the positive impact of general and work stress and the negative impact of work self-efficacy on psychological distress and sleep disturbance elucidate possible risk and protective factors that can be addressed by employers. Moreover, these results emphasize the importance of effective mentorship and supervision and highlight the need for stress management and other skills at the formative stages of early employment. The silver lining for CW workers with maltreatment histories is that strategies can be implemented to promote self-care, trauma sensitivity, mental health, and wellbeing.