Social Policy and Labour Law Journal
Social Policy and Labour Law Journal
Social workers, as practitioners of the social work profession, work with various vulnerable client groups. Social workers who encounter clients with different concerns, problems and requests (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2016: 519) may be exposed to problems such as “stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, mobbing, glass ceiling syndrome” in their working lives (Kurt, 2021: 10-11). Such situations can negatively affect social workers life satisfaction and quality of life. Hombrados-Mendieta and Cosano-Rivas (2011) also stated that burnout has a negative effect on life satisfaction. Habletmitoğlu and Özmete (2012: 199) pointed out in their research that social workers generally experience stress due to excessive workload.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between social workers’ life satisfaction, quality of life, and perceived stress levels and their sociodemographic characteristics, as well as to identify the relationship among their life satisfaction, quality of life, and perceived stress levels.
The research was conducted with the relational survey model. With the approval of the ethics committee the questionnaire form, which consisted of a sociodemographic information form and scales, was sent to social workers via google forms. At the beginning of the questionnaire form, participants were informed about the purpose of the research and it was emphasized that voluntary participation in the research was essential. A total of 172 social workers voluntarily participated in the study. The data obtained in the research were transferred to the SPSS program, one of the quantitative research analysis programs, and analyzed. In the data analysis process, correlation analysis was used to determine the linear component and the strength of the relationship between two variables. The t-test was used to examine the differences between two groups, and the one-way ANOVA test was used to compare more than two groups. The data were evaluated at 5% significance level with 95% confidence interval (Coşkun et al., 2019: 205, 214, 259).
Parametric tests were utilized in the research. To determine the reliability (internal consistency) of the scales and their subscales, Cronbach’s alpha values were calculated (YDÖ= 0.853; DSÖYKÖ= 0.925; DSÖYKÖ Physical Domain Subscale= 0.839; DSÖYKÖ Psychological Domain Subscale= 0.792; DSÖYKÖ Social Relationships Subscale= 0.664; DSÖYKÖ Environmental Domain Subscale= 0.817; ASÖ= 0.890) were calculated. In other words, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the scales range from 0.70 to 0.95. This result indicates that the scales are sufficiently reliable.
The results of the data analysis revealed that there was no significant relationship between social workers’ life satisfaction and quality of life and their gender, age, marital status, educational level, or field of work; however, significant relationships were found with their economic status, support status, and work environment (p<0.05). It was found that there was no relationship between the perceived stress levels of social workers and their age, marital status, educational level, economic status, and field of work, but there was a relationship with their gender, support status, and work environment (p<0.05). These results are supported by the results of various studies in the literature on life satisfaction and perceived stress level variables (Baran, 2022; Dhooper & Byars, 1989; Jia et al., 2020; Kiremitci, 2019; Kurt, 2021; Ravalier, 2018; Safadi et al., 2019; Ulucan et al., 2019).
The relationship between life satisfaction, quality of life and perceived stress level was also analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was found that there was a significant and negative relationship between life satisfaction and perceived stress. The results of the study conducted by Kurt (2021: 50) were found to be consistent with the results of this study.
It was found that there was a significant and positive relationship between life satisfaction and DSÖYKÖ sub-dimensions and DSÖYKÖ total. There was a significant and negative relationship between perceived stress and DSÖYKÖ sub-dimensions and DSÖYKÖ total. However, no studies were found in the literature to support these two results of the study. It was seen that the studies conducted for social workers mostly focused on job satisfaction, quality of work life, work stress and burnout. It was assessed that there are studies (Çoban, 2021; Gümüşsoy, 2018; İskender, 2017; Özyıldırım, 2015) that question the relationship between “life satisfaction and quality of life” and “perceived stress and quality of life” on different sample groups other than social workers and support these two results.
To enhance social workers life satisfaction and quality of life and reduce their perceived stress levels, the implementation of workplace social service programs within the organizations where they work should be expanded. These programs can help address the issues that negatively impact social workers biopsychosocial well-being.
