Measuring levels of family stress and engagement in child protection social work: an explorative analysis of parental stress and social worker practice skills
Journal of Children's Services
ISSN: 1746-6660
Article publication date: 24 June 2024
Issue publication date: 27 June 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Effectively engaging parents under stress is a key component of skilful child welfare practice. This paper aims to investigate how social workers practice with parents with either high or normal levels of stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a mixed methods design including observations and audio recordings of meetings between families and social workers, interviews with parents/carers and questionnaires with social workers. Validated instruments, including the general health questionnaire (GHQ) for stress levels and the working alliance inventory (WAI), were used to explore how levels of stress influence practice.
Findings
Data from 366 families found twice as many parents had clinically elevated GHQ scores compared to the general population (40% to about 20%). Stressed parents reported significantly less good working relationships with social workers [WAI, for the less stressed parents/carers, M = 65.3 vs highly stressed M = 60.6, t(324) = 2.407, p = 0.017, d = 0.28]. When quality of practice was directly measured, workers showed higher level of relationship skills with the less stressed group [t(291) = 1.71, p = 0.44, d = 0.205].
Originality/value
This study explored the interaction between practitioner skills and family factors influencing engagement, such as stress and anxiety. Engagement with stressed families may be particularly challenging, making it all the more important to understand how social workers engage such families to provide effective help and support. A better understanding of the parent-worker relationship under stress can lead to the development of training and practice strategies aimed at overcoming barriers in family engagement. This study also highlights the need for practice to re-focus on the relational elements and the emotional well-being of families.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the participants for taking the time to participate in these studies. The authors would also like to thank the social workers and their managers for enabling the authors to conduct the studies and for participating.
Funding: This paper is independent research commissioned and funded by The Social Care Trust (bequest of Tilda Goldberg).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data availability statement: The data presented in this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.
Disclosure statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Citation
Antonopoulou, V., Killian, M. and Forrester, D. (2024), "Measuring levels of family stress and engagement in child protection social work: an explorative analysis of parental stress and social worker practice skills", Journal of Children's Services, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-10-2022-0030
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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