Job burnout, spirituality and social support in women who are perinatal social workers: A quantitative and qualitative study

This research explored relationships between levels of job burnout, intrinsic spirituality and social support in women who are perinatal social workers, defined as those who were currently employed or had been employed in perinatal settings. The study population consisted of membership and active mailing list of the National Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW). Research packets mailed to this group included a cover letter, demographic survey, and three instruments including the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey, the Intrinsic Spirituality Scale and an amended form of the Shortened Social Support Scale, amended to include support provided inside and outside the workplace. Measures were taken to insure that participation was completely voluntary and could be anonymous if desired. Demographic surveys and test instruments were statistically examined for correlations. Participants were also asked to provide comments on study topics, which were examined for key words and themes and quotations illustrative of those themes. Themes found included spirituality and social support as preventive of job burnout and stress, stresses and benefits unique to perinatal social work, identification with the specialty as social support, NAPSW as social support, stresses and benefits of working with families experiencing death and loss, other factors in stress and burnout prevention, and other sources of stress. Quantitative research yielded correlations among depersonalization (DP), emotional exhaustion (EE) and personal accomplishment (PA) subscales of the burnout instrument, and the following significant correlations: DP was negatively correlated with PA, social support, years in practice and in perinatal social work, and PA was positively correlated with social support, age, years in practice and in perinatal social work. Social support was positively correlated with marital status, as was having an organized social work department with having a supervisor who is a social worker. After recognition of personal accomplishment as a possible confounding variable, the following pairs of variables were significantly correlated: Years in perinatal social work was negatively correlated with intrinsic spirituality and positively correlated with age and years in social work. Years in social work was positively correlated with age.