Stressful events and adolescent psychopathology: A person-centred approach to expanding adverse childhood experience categories

Stress from cumulative adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can pose a serious risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders in adolescence. However, there is a paucity of research identifying specific profiles or combinations of exposure to other forms of stressful life events and their impact on adolescent psychopathology. This study attempted a conceptual expansion of the ACE checklist by examining these stressful events. The study used cross-sectional data from a modified version of the CASE Study survey where 864 adolescents (56% female, n = 480), aged from 11 – 18 years were recruited from four post-primary schools in the North-West region of NI. Latent class analysis of the 20-item stressful events checklist revealed 3 distinct risk classes: a low-risk class (53.5%), at-risk class (42.7%), and an immediate-risk class (3.8%). Results showed those at most risk of adolescent psychopathology had the highest probability of encountering interpersonal relationship issues, experiencing family dysfunction, and having close friends experiencing psychological difficulties. Findings indicate that the original ten ACE categories may be too narrow in focus and do not capture the wide range of childhood adversity. Expanding the ACE checklist to include other stressful events is discussed as these may also be antecedents to psychopathologic responses

COVID-19 Impact on Children’s Social Work Practice and Social Worker Well-being: A Mixed Methods Study from Northern Ireland and Great Britain during 2020–2022

Social workers were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examined the well-being, burnout and work conditions of UK children’s social workers at five time points of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross-sectional mixed methods study analysing data from 1,621 social workers who worked in children’s services in the UK in 2020–2022. Data were collected using anonymous online surveys which included both quantitative and qualitative questions. The mental well-being of participants decreased as the pandemic progressed and work-related burnout increased. In the later stages of the pandemic, children’s social workers in Northern Ireland fared better than their Great Britain counterparts in relation to their well-being and levels of burnout. Thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed four major themes: Changes in service demand and referrals, Adapted ways of working, Staff shortages and Emotional impact. The findings highlight the challenges that the children’s social workers encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic and have implications for policy, practice and research

Perceptions of safe staffing, self-reported mental wellbeing and intentions to leave the profession among UK social workers:a mixed methods study

The purpose of the present study was to examine social workers perceptions of safe staffing levels and correlate these perceptions with standardised measurements of wellbeing in the UK. This cross-sectional mixed methods study analysed data from 406 social workers from November 2022 until late January 2023. Data were collected using anonymous online surveys including both qualitative and quantitative methods examining mental wellbeing, burnout, and intentions to leave the profession post-COVID-19. Findings revealed that only one-third of social workers responding perceived that they work in an environment of safe staffing. There were also significant differences in wellbeing and an increase in personal, work-related, and client-related burnout in social workers who believed their service did not operate a safe staff-to-service user ratio. Likewise, compared to those who perceived their service to operate within a safe staff-to-service-user ratio, those who perceived unsafe ratios were more likely to communicate their intention to leave the profession. Qualitative findings helped contextualize the quantitative results. These findings suggest that increased demand for social work services, shortage of qualified social workers, high workloads, inadequate resources, and retention problems, contribute to additional pressure on existing staff and have implications for policy, practice, and research in social work

An Evaluation of Whole-School Trauma-Informed Training Intervention Among Post-Primary School Personnel: A Mixed Methods Study

Students’ ability to reach their potential in school—both behaviourally and academically – is linked to their educator’s knowledge of child and adolescent development, childhood adversity and trauma, and how these impact learning and behaviour. However, teacher pre-service training programmes often offer inadequate instruction to meet the needs of trauma-impacted students. The purpose of the study was to investigate the benefits of professional development training in trauma-informed approaches on school personnel attitudes and compassion fatigue. There is a paucity of research on whole-school trauma-informed approaches and most have methodological limitations via the absence of a control group. In addressing this gap, the study is one of the first to utilise a control group in the research design to ensure findings are robust. The study utilised a quasi-experimental wait-list control pre-post intervention design to evaluate the efficacy of trauma-informed professional development training. We compared attitudes and compassion fatigue among 216 school personnel (n = 98 intervention, n = 118 comparison) utilising the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) scale and the Professional Quality of Life scale (Pro-QoL). Quantitative data was supplemented by qualitative focus group data. Findings demonstrated that school-personnel within the intervention group reported significant improvements in attitudes related to trauma-informed care, and a significant decrease in burnout at 6-month follow-up. Our findings demonstrate that with minimum training on the dynamics of trauma, personnel attached to a school can become more trauma-informed and have more favourable attitudes towards trauma-impacted students and consequently be less likely to experience burnout

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on UK older people’s social workers: a mixed-methods study

The social work profession was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examined the well-being, working conditions and intentions to leave the social work profession among a sample of UK older people’s social workers. This was a cross-sectional mixed methods study analysing data from 426 social workers who worked in older people’s services in the UK at five time points of the pandemic spanning 2020–2022. Data were collected using anonymous online surveys which included both quantitative and qualitative questions. The mental well-being of participants decreased as the pandemic progressed and this decline was associated with intentions to leave the profession. Thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed two major themes: Practice challenges and Staff well-being. The findings highlight the nature of stressors related to internal related practice demands, and external health and social care service stressors encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic and have implications for policy, practice and research in older people’s social work

Safe staffing and workload management in social work: a scoping review of legislation, policy and practice

In Northern Ireland, social work-specific legislation is planned for safe staffing across the governmental sector. As part of a broader research project to inform this development, we conducted a scoping review seeking examples of safe staffing definitions, safe staffing-related legislation, policy and practice in social work and associated professions from the UK and internationally. We searched English language databases in 2023 websites and reference lists as well as grey literature. Finding no international examples of social work-specific safe staffing definitions, legislation, or policy outside of Children’s Services, we offer a tentative definition to the current debate. Our scoping review found examples of individual social workers and local teams developing caseload management practices to promote ‘safer’ working, which may be useful for policymakers and regulators to consider. However, these need greater conceptual clarity, consensus over definitions and outcomes, and evaluation for cost-effectiveness. Given the limited evidence in this area, recommendations include the need for further research to ascertain what ‘safe staffing’ does, can and should mean in social work and what can work in different contexts and at different levels of policy and practice to inform service user and social worker safety in social work