The purpose of this study is to examine if social workers in a child protection agency report greater levels of stress than individuals working in other professions. Paper-and-pencil versions of the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI) questionnaire were distributed to all participants as a measure of occupational stress. Participants' responses were analyzed using an independent samples t-test to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the two groups. There were significant findings in nine out of twenty-four subscales of the PMI. The results from these areas show that the social workers feel more insecure about the stability of their organization, feel more anxious, and they have less energy and feel more tired when compared to those in other professions. Further, social workers report greater pressure as a result of workload, organizational climate, personal responsibility, home/work balance, and daily hassles. The results also show that social workers utilize social support more than other types of employees. Implications of the results are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study is to examine if social workers in a child protection agency report greater levels of stress than individuals working in other professions. Paper-and-pencil versions of the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI) questionnaire were distributed to all participants as a measure of occupational stress. Participants' responses were analyzed using an independent samples <em>t</em>-test to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the two groups. There were significant findings in nine out of twenty-four subscales of the PMI. The results from these areas show that the social workers feel more insecure about the stability of their organization, feel more anxious, and they have less energy and feel more tired when compared to those in other professions. Further, social workers report greater pressure as a result of workload, organizational climate, personal responsibility, home/work balance, and daily hassles. The results also show that social workers utilize social support more than other types of employees. Implications of the results are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Narcum, Kristina M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educational Services and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Klanderman, John","Dihoff, Roberta"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-05-03T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-05-03T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:58Z","subjects":["Child welfare workers--Job stress; Social workers--Job stress","Educational Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1055","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Klanderman, John","Dihoff, Roberta"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Narcum, Kristina M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-18T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Services and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Child welfare workers--Job stress; Social workers--Job stress","Educational Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1055"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study is to examine if social workers in a child protection agency report greater levels of stress than individuals working in other professions. Paper-and-pencil versions of the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI) questionnaire were distributed to all participants as a measure of occupational stress. Participants' responses were analyzed using an independent samples t-test to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the two groups. There were significant findings in nine out of twenty-four subscales of the PMI. The results from these areas show that the social workers feel more insecure about the stability of their organization, feel more anxious, and they have less energy and feel more tired when compared to those in other professions. Further, social workers report greater pressure as a result of workload, organizational climate, personal responsibility, home/work balance, and daily hassles. The results also show that social workers utilize social support more than other types of employees. Implications of the results are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Occupational stress in child protection social workers"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Klanderman, John","Dihoff, Roberta"],"dc:creator":["Narcum, Kristina M."],"dc:date.available":["2016-04-18T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study is to examine if social workers in a child protection agency report greater levels of stress than individuals working in other professions. Paper-and-pencil versions of the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI) questionnaire were distributed to all participants as a measure of occupational stress. Participants' responses were analyzed using an independent samples t-test to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the responses of the two groups. There were significant findings in nine out of twenty-four subscales of the PMI. The results from these areas show that the social workers feel more insecure about the stability of their organization, feel more anxious, and they have less energy and feel more tired when compared to those in other professions. Further, social workers report greater pressure as a result of workload, organizational climate, personal responsibility, home/work balance, and daily hassles. The results also show that social workers utilize social support more than other types of employees. Implications of the results are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1055"],"dc:subject":["Child welfare workers--Job stress; Social workers--Job stress","Educational Psychology"],"dc:title":["Occupational stress in child protection social workers"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Services and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:58Z"}