Role Stress and Depressive Symptoms Amongst Social Workers in China: The Moderating Effects of Social Support

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to examine the association between role stress and depressive symptoms, as well as moderating effects of social support on the association between role stress and depressive symptoms. The data come from the baseline survey of the ‘China Social Work Longitudinal Study’ collected in 2019, which contains 5,965 social workers. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Role stress was assessed by using two standardised scales of role conflict (RC) and role ambiguity (RA). Workplace support included organisational support, supervisor support and co-worker support. Family support was measured by assessing family’s attitude towards social work profession. Hierarchical regression analyses were employed. We found that after adjusting for covariates, RC and RA were positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas co-worker support, organisational support and family support were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. In addition, family support was found to significantly moderate the association between role stress and depressive symptoms. However, workplace support was not found to act as a moderator against the negative effect of role stress on depressive symptoms. Findings demonstrate social service agencies need to make efforts to assist social workers in recognising and utilising any existing social support.