| In the immense literature on stress in healthcare, social workers have been poorly represented. This dissertation examines the relationship between stress, perception of stress at work (PSW), and coping strategies through the analysis of a secondary data gathered from a national sample of social workers participating in the NASW 2007 national survey. Several coping strategies (i.e., complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) or meditation/yoga, exercise, therapy/medication and avoidance) are examined as potential moderators of the relationship between stress and PSW. Results indicate that over 50% of social workers in this study report the experience of stress on the job and that the stress is significantly related to perceived organizational stressors and safety concerns at work. The literature in mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) research supports engagement in meditation and yoga as a means to reduce levels of overall stress. However, this was not supported by the current study. Bi-variate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between these variables and their association to stress. At the multivariate level, hierachical binary logistic regression indicated that CAM did not moderate the relationship between stress and PSW at a statistically significant level. However, an analysis of main effects did reveal that exercise held a negative association to stress while considering PSW. However, when safety concern was controlled for in the model, exercise no longer provided a buffering effect to stress in the presence of PSW. This study supports the notion that stress related to work conditions does indeed exist for practicing social workers and that the coping strategies they use are not providing enough of a relief from this stress. Further research related to organizational interventions and individual strategies to cope with stressors needs to be conducted in order to insure a healthier workforce. |
