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Self‐care agency and self‐care practice in youth workers reduces burnout risk and improves compassion satisfaction
Author(s) -
Hallam Karen T.,
Leigh Danielle,
Davis Cassandra,
Castle Nathan,
Sharples Jenny,
Collett James D.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.13209
Subject(s) - burnout , compassion fatigue , self care , agency (philosophy) , psychology , job satisfaction , depersonalization , clinical psychology , nursing , medicine , social psychology , health care , emotional exhaustion , political science , philosophy , epistemology , law
and Aims Youth work specialises in helping vulnerable young people face life challenges during critical stages of their development. It is a complex and demanding role and factors influencing occupational stress in youth workers are rarely investigated. This study examined whether youth alcohol and other drug workers with greater compassion satisfaction, self‐care practice and self‐care agency experienced different rates of occupational stress including burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Design and Methods A convenience sample of 258 Australian youth alcohol and other drug workers completed an online questionnaire battery. A four‐stage data analysis was conducted utilising multivariate analysis of variance, bivariate correlations, linear multiple regression models and mediation modelling. Results Burnout and secondary traumatic stress exhibited moderate negative correlations with compassion satisfaction, self‐care practice and the different forms of self‐care agency. Further, a decrease in lacking power for self‐care, a form of self‐care agency, was the strongest contributor to both burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Support was found for a mediation pathway whereby self‐care agency led to greater self‐care practice, which in turn increased compassion satisfaction, lowering burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Discussion and Conclusions The findings suggest that it would be beneficial for self‐care agency to be a key focus of youth worker training and professional development programs.