North Maddison N, Thompson Yutian T, Jorgensen Ashley, Taylor Erin K, Miller Michelle, Ralston Elizabeth, Silovsky Jane F
Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Child Youth Serv Rev. 2025 Apr;171. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108170. Epub 2025 Feb 6.
Burnout, or the exhaustion caused from a buildup of stressors, is a prevalent issue amongst helping professionals such as victim advocates due to problems of high workload, understaffing, and secondary traumatic stress. Turnover is a common result of burnout when employees do not have the resources needed to counterbalance workplace demands. Voluntary turnover can be harmful to organizations and the populations they serve. Resources potentially beneficial to employees are support from their supervisor and their organization more broadly. Thus, we used a longitudinal mixed methods approach to test the effect of support on burnout and turnover intention in victim advocates working within the contexts of Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) in the United States, a population with limited study. This sample was representative of victim advocates working within U.S. CACs. This longitudinal study disseminated three surveys over the course of one year with the purpose of examining the relationships among organizational and supervisor support, burnout, and turnover intention. Qualitative responses were also gathered to examine factors that contribute to burnout and retention of victim advocates. Findings revealed that organizational and supervisory support's effect on turnover was mediated by burnout and that a driving force for retention was commitment to the population they serve. Potential strategies that may be used to ameliorate stress and strain, enhance well-being and work performance, and reduce turnover intention are discussed, including building a collaborative and psychologically safe interpersonal environment in the agency and with community partners and illuminating positive impact on families served.
职业倦怠，即由压力源累积导致的疲惫，是受害者权益倡导者等助人专业人士中普遍存在的问题，原因在于工作量大、人员不足以及继发性创伤压力等问题。当员工没有应对工作场所需求所需的资源时，人员流动是职业倦怠的常见结果。自愿离职可能对组织及其服务的人群有害。对员工可能有益的资源更广泛地来说是来自其上级和组织的支持。因此，我们采用纵向混合方法来测试支持对在美国儿童权益中心（CAC）环境中工作的受害者权益倡导者的职业倦怠和离职意向的影响，这是一个研究有限的群体。该样本代表了在美国儿童权益中心工作的受害者权益倡导者。这项纵向研究在一年时间内进行了三次调查，目的是考察组织支持、上级支持、职业倦怠和离职意向之间的关系。我们还收集了定性反馈，以研究导致受害者权益倡导者职业倦怠和留任的因素。研究结果显示，组织支持和上级支持对离职的影响是通过职业倦怠来介导的，而留任的一个驱动力是对他们所服务人群的承诺。我们讨论了可能用于缓解压力和紧张、提高幸福感和工作绩效以及降低离职意向的潜在策略，包括在机构内部以及与社区伙伴建立协作且心理安全的人际环境，以及阐明对所服务家庭的积极影响。
