Measuring levels of family stress and engagement in child protection social work: an explorative analysis of parental stress and social worker practice skills
| Date | 24 June 2024 |
| Pages | 123-134 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-10-2022-0030 |
| Published date | 24 June 2024 |
| Author | Vivi Antonopoulou,Michael Killian,Donald Forrester |
Measuring levels of family stress and
engagement in child protection social
work: an explorative analysis of parental
stress and social worker practice skills
Vivi Antonopoulou, Michael Killian and Donald Forrester
Abstract
Purpose –Effectivelyengaging parents under stress is a key componentof skilful child welfare practice.
This paperaims to investigate how social workerspractice with parents witheither high or normal levels of
stress.
Design/methodology/approach –The studyused a mixed methods design including observationsand
audio recordings of meetings between families and social workers, interviews with parents/carers and
questionnaires with social workers. Validated instruments, including the general health questionnaire
(GHQ) for stress levels and the working alliance inventory (WAI), were used to explore how levels of
stressinfluence practice.
Findings –Data from 366 families found twice as many parents had clinically elevated GHQ scores
compared to the general population (40% to about 20%). Stressed parents reported significantly less
good working relationships with social workers [WAI, for the less stressed parents/carers, M ¼65.3 vs
highly stressed M ¼60.6, t(324) ¼2.407, p ¼0.017, d ¼0.28]. When quality of practice was directly
measured, workersshowed higher level of relationship skillswith the less stressed group [t(291) ¼1.71,
p¼0.44,d ¼0.205].
Originality/value –This study explored the interaction between practitioner skills and family factors
influencing engagement, such as stress and anxiety. Engagement with stressed families may be
particularly challenging,making it all the more important to understand how social workers engagesuch
families to provide effectivehelp and support. A better understanding of the parent-worker relationship
under stress can lead to the development of training and practice strategies aimed at overcoming
barriersin family engagement. This study also highlightsthe need for practice to re-focus on the relational
elementsand the emotional well-being of families.
Keywords Social work practice, Social worker skill, Family stress, Engagement, Working alliance,
Child protection
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
A core element of statutory social work is engaging parents. Without engagement, in-depth
assessment and effective help are difficult to achieve. The Munro (2011) report underlined
the importance of family engagement for assessment and to achieve behavioural change
“[...] skills in forming relationships are fundamental to obtaining the information that helps
social workers understand what problemsa family has and to engaging the child and family
and working with them to promote change”.(Munro, 2010,p.88).
In the past, engagement within child welfare services was mainly characterised in terms of either
compliance (e.g. Steffenson and Colker, 1982) or resistance (e.g. Stanton and Todd, 1981).
(Informationabout the
authorscan be found at the
end of this article.)
Received 21 October 2022
Revised 22 December 2023
Accepted 8 May 2024
The authorswould like to thank
the participantsfor taking the
time to participatein these
studies.The authors would also
like to thankthe social workers
and theirmanagers for enabling
the authorsto conduct the
studiesand for participating.
Funding: This paper is
independent research
commissioned and funded by
The Social Care Trust (bequest of
Tilda Goldberg).
Informed consent statement:
Informed consent was obtained
from all subjects involved in the
study.
Data availability statement:The
data presented in this study are
available upon reasonable
request from the corresponding
author.
Disclosure statement: The
authors declare no conflict of
interest.
DOI 10.1108/JCS-10-2022-0030 VOL. 19 NO. 2 2024, pp. 123-134, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660 jJOURNAL OF CHILDREN’S SERVICES jPAGE 123
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