Ann Occup Environ Med.  2013 ;25(1):6.

Posttraumatic Growth and Related Factors of Child Protective Service Workers

• Rhee YS
• Ko YB
• Han IY

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of the study is to measure the level of vicarious trauma, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and other factors affecting PTG among child protective service workers.
METHODS
We include posttraumatic stress, social support, stress coping, and demographic data as independent variables. Data was collected from 255 full-time social workers from 43 child protective agencies as acomplete enumeration and 204 included in the final analysis.
RESULTS
The major findings of the study were as follows: The mean score of PTG was 44.09 (SD:21.73). Hierarchical multiple regression was adopted and "pursuing social support as a way of coping with stress" was the strongest predictive factor (beta=0.319, p<0.001) of PTG.
CONCLUSION
We suggest that child protective workers are vulnerable to posttraumatic stress and mental health services are indicated. We also recommend various types of training for stress coping program, especially strengthening the social support system of the child protective service workers in South Korea.

Keyword

Posttraumatic growth; Vicarious trauma; Coping strategy; Social support

MeSH Terms

Child
Child Welfare*
Child*
Humans
Mental Health Services
Republic of Korea
Social Work