Linking Self-Efficacy Beliefs to Employee Retention in Child Welfare

Abstract

SUMMARY This article describes the results of a two-state study of relationships between child welfare employees' intentions to remain employed in child welfare and their self-efficacy beliefs about their capabilities to accomplish core work tasks. Linkages between self-efficacy motivation and persistence and intent to remain employed in child welfare were also examined. The development of the study measures and the results of data analyses pertaining to their empirical structures and scale reliabilities for a large sample (n = 941) of child welfare staff are described. Major findings of the study confirmed the hypothesized, positive relationships between child welfare employees' self-efficacy beliefs and their intentions to remain employed in child welfare. These findings replicated across the two states. Implications of the findings for practice, theory development, and future research in child welfare are discussed