The work-related well-being of social workers: Framing job demands, psychological well-being, and work engagement

Abstract Summary: Social workers’ occupational health has become a central theme in the psychosocial literature. This study aimed at exploring how specific job demands and psychological well-being are related to work engagement. A sample of 140 Italian social workers was analyzed in accordance with the job demands–resources model. Participants were asked to complete a written questionnaire containing several measurement scales. Findings: Multiple regression analyses showed that social workers’ psychological wellbeing was positively related to work engagement. Moderation analyses also indicated that, when psychological well-being was high (vs. low), job demands were associated to higher levels of work engagement, thus highlighting the buffering role of psychological Corresponding author: Alessio Tesi, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pisa, Via F. Serafini, 3, 56126 Pisa, Italy. Email: alessio.tesi@sp.unipi.it Journal of Social Work 0(0) 1–21 ! The Author(s) 2018 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1468017318757397 journals.sagepub.com/home/jsw well-being as a specific personal resource. When job demands were high (vs. low), the psychological well-being appeared to be strongly related to lowest levels of work engagement, showing that high job demands could reduce the fostering role of psychological well-being on social workers’ work engagement. Applications: While administration of job demands may often be difficult in social work contexts, managers should be encouraged, as part of a systemic approach to training, to promote specific measures for improving social workers’ psychological well-being as a personal resource for promoting work engagement. Keywords Social work, health and social care, organisational structure, social workers, stress, job demands, psychological wellbeing, work engagement

Social workers' occupational health has become a central theme in the psychosocial literature. This study aimed at exploring how specific job demands and psychological well-being are related to work engagement. A sample of 140 Italian social workers was analyzed in accordance with the job demands-resources model. Participants were asked to complete a written questionnaire containing several measurement scales.Findings Multiple regression analyses showed that social workers' psychological well-being was positively related to work engagement. Moderation analyses also indicated that, when psychological well-being was high (vs. low), job demands were associated to higher levels of work engagement, thus highlighting the buffering role of psychological well-being as a specific personal resource. When job demands were high (vs. low), the psychological well-being appeared to be strongly related to lowest levels of work engagement, showing that high job demands could reduce the fostering role of psychological well-being on social workers' work engagement.Applications While administration of job demands may often be difficult in social work contexts, managers should be encouraged, as part of a systemic approach to training, to promote specific measures for improving social workers' psychological well-being as a personal resource for promoting work engagement.