The Relationship of Self-Efficacy and Anxiety and Depression in School Social Work: An Exploratory Study

Background/Purpose: School Social Workers (SSWs) work in a complex environment characterized by high caseloads, inadequate administrative and district-level support, which negatively impact their mental health. Prior studies revealed the link between these challenges, especially from heavy trauma caseloads, and their experiences of secondary trauma, burn-out, increased anxiety and depression. It is, therefore, crucial to shift scholarly discourse towards addressing these issues. However, research has extensively focused on SSWs’ critical roles in ensuring the wellbeing of students, their families, and school staff, with scant attention on their own mental health. Studies on self-efficacy among students, teachers and social workers demonstrate its negative relationship with anxiety and depression, leaving a critical gap in literature regarding the role of self-efficacy within the context of SSWs’ work dynamics. To bridge the gap in literature and expand on this discussion, this study specifically considered the mental health of SSWs. The purpose of this study was to examine the strength and direction of the relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety and between self-efficacy and depression in school social workers (SSWs).

Method: This exploratory, cross-sectional study utilized a sample of school social workers from a national school social work organization listserv. Those on the listserv (n=3500) received an email with a survey link assessing school social work practice and school-based practitioners’ level of self-efficacy, anxiety, and depression. Responses included 244 school social workers (male: N = 13; female: N = 228) who completed the school mental health professional survey using an online survey platform. The survey included items about school social work practice tasks, perceptions of the field, roles and responsibilities; support structures; school-based systems; services provided; self-efficacy, anxiety, depression, needs, and demographic information about participants. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were conducted along with a series of linear regression analyses.

Results: The results of Pearson’s correlation test and a scatterplot showed a significant negative linear relationship between self-efficacy and anxiety (r = -.27, p<.001) and between self-efficacy and depression (r = -.21, p<.001). The results of the linear regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between self-efficacy and anxiety (F = 18.60, p <.001) and self-efficacy and depression (F = 11.41, p<.001). With a beta of -.27 (t = -4.31, p <.001), self-efficacy accounted for about 7% of the variance in anxiety indicating a significant predictor of anxiety. With a beta of -.21 (t = -3.38, p<.001), self-efficacy accounted for about 4% of the variance in depression indicating a significant predictor of depression. Descriptive statistics also showed that as caseload size increases, the average score for anxiety and depression increases.

Conclusions: Results show that individuals with lower self-efficacy are more likely to experience anxiety and/or depression. This study also revealed that 46% of the school social workers who participated in the study showed signs of clinical anxiety and 57% showed signs of clinical depression. These are alarming numbers and point to the need for intervention in schools to not only be focused on students, but on staff as well, including school social workers.