De mate van ervaren werkdruk bij groepsleiders in de residentiële jeugdzorg en de samenhang met begeleider- en kindfactoren

Abstract

Background. Working in a residential institution with youth with severe problems can put professional child care workers (PCCW) at risk for higher levels of perceived job strain (PJS), which is seen as a preliminary stage of burnout. The wellbeing of the PCCW is important for de quality and continuity of care they give. Aim. To investigate the level of PJS of PCCW and which child and employee factors are related to this, in order to give advice to residential youth care institutions on how to prevent high levels of PJS among their PCCW. Method. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to measure PJS, employee and child factors. The Utrechtse Coping Lijst was used to measure coping strategies of the PCCW. 53 PCCW participated in this study. Results. The average scale score for PJS was 2.12 (SD = 0.72), with an item score of 2 representing experiencing 'a little' JS. The results indicate that those PCCW who are more often confronted with physical aggression of clients, more often physically intervene, more often isolate a client, and work on groups with mostly children functioning at a lower cognitive level, showed higher levels of PJS. Discussion. To decrease the level of PJS, it seems important to provide the PCCW with more specific skills and knowledge. This can be done by organizing training, coaching and intervision. These sessions could, for instance, focus on further enhancing PCCW's understanding of youth with mental disorders and teaching them (preventive) aggression management methods.