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. 2021;49(4):495-504.
doi: 10.1007/s10615-021-00795-y. Epub 2021 Mar 2.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Posttraumatic Stress, Grief, Burnout, and Secondary Trauma of Social Workers in the United St ates

Megan R Holmes  1 , C Robin Rentrope  1 , Amy Korsch-Williams  1 , Jennifer A King  1
Affiliations

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Posttraumatic Stress, Grief, Burnout, and Secondary Trauma of Social Workers in the United St ates

Megan R Holmes et al. Clin Soc Work J. 2021.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to measure posttraumatic stress, grief, burnout, and secondary trauma experienced by employed social workers in the United States and to describe organizational support provided to social workers during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study used data from the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Emotional Well-Being Study, a prospective panel study examining the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes a sample of 181 social workers. We conducted univariate analyses. Over a quarter (26.21%) of social workers met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and 16.22% reported severe grief symptoms. While 99.19% of the sample reported average to high compassion satisfaction, 63.71% reported average burnout and 49.59% reported average secondary trauma. Findings indicate that social workers are reporting higher than national estimates of PTSD, indicating a greater need for more emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the significance and severity of the pandemic, it is essential that organizations provide resources for both immediate and ongoing support for the emotional well-being of their employees.

Keywords: Burnout; COVID-19 pandemic; Compassion fatigue; Posttraumatic stress; Secondary trauma; Social work.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Organizational support prior to and since COVID-19. Note There was a significant difference in the scores for organization provided wellness activities prior to COVID-19: M = 2.47, SD = .137) and since COVID-19 (M = 2.13, SD = 1.30), t(146) = 3.67, p < .001, and for opportunities for co-workers to support one another prior to COVID-19 (M = 3.44, SD = 1.19) and since COVID-19 (M = 3.12, SD = 1.29), t(145) = 4.42, p < .001)
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