Burnout Syndrome and COVID-19 Lockdown: Research on Residential Care Workers Who Assume Parental Roles with Youths

Abstract

Healthcare professionals are at higher risk of developing and experiencing burnout. Parents may also suffer from prolonged stressful conditions that lead to physical and emotional exhaustion. Residential youth care workers assume a caregiving role that can lead to persistent stressful conditions that affect their relationship with the youth. In addition, the COVID-19 lockdown has had a negative impact on both the organization and the work, as well as on the lifestyle of workers and minors. In fact, during the pandemic, contact with families was not possible due to restrictions and this increased the need for caregivers to assume a parental role. This research aims to examine the risk of burnout in a sample of 75 healthcare professionals working with youths and the association with psychological traits. Then, we aim to evaluate these aspects during the COVID-19 lockdown The measurements, conducted in both February 2019 and April 2021, included six questionnaires: MBI to assess burnout, TAS_20 to explore alexithymic traits, COPE_NVI to assess coping strategies, FDS_R to quantify frustration intolerance at work, IRI for empathy, and FFMQ to investigate awareness and emotional regulation. Our sample shows a medium-high risk of developing burnout, which worsened during the pandemic. A worsening of emotional skills, paralleled by a greater empathic investment required by the emergency situation, and an assumed parental role is observable. Coping strategies correlate with burnout risk, as avoidance strategies were strongly associated with emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest an urgent need to develop targeted and timely interventions for healthcare professionals in order to prevent long-term consequences.

COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on medical interns’ mental health of public and private hospitals in Guadalajara

“…This finding is consistent with earlier research conducted by García [ 30 ], which highlights health-care personnel as a vulnerable group in the pandemic response, with 20% of COVID-19 cases attributed to frontline health-care workers. Our study also aligns with the literature, such as Sheehan et al [ 31 ], Ferro et al [ 32 ], and Caillet et al [ 33 ], who reported a higher prevalence of characteristics related to burnout symptoms among female undergraduate interns. Variations in specific staffing characteristics were noted, such as those based on residential care workers, emergency department staff, or intensive care unit staff.…”

The Well-Being of Social Health Professionals: Relationship between Coping Strategies, Emotional Regulation, Metacognition and Quality of Professional Life

“…For stressful situations to be managed in relation to the minor and the complex care organization in which he/she is incorporated, this could concern the ability to respond adaptively to events and apply useful and effective coping strategies, such as asking for support when necessary, having a positive attitude or planning properly for the implementation of targeted and effective interventions. Our earlier study showed that the use of avoidance strategies appears to be increasing among social and health care workers in the face of greater emotional intolerance [14].…”

“…In addition, burnout conditions can cause frequent turnover, which negatively impacts children who have already experienced relationship breakdowns and losses [15]. In addition, it appears that under these conditions, there is a tendency to become emotionally detached, to use avoidance strategies and to reduce the ability to regulate emotions [14].…”

“…Using the PRQOL allows us to understand the quality of professional life of social and health care workers in terms of the risk of developing burnout and compassion fatigue and to assess any elements of satisfaction and gratification that could instead enhance the ability to make personal and organizational efforts that improve the emotional management of their needs and abilities [1,14,37]. Burnout impairs emotional availability and thus therapeutic outcomes for children [38].…”

“…Furthermore, users may be at risk if caregivers feel stressed or unable to cope with the situation, further exacerbating the child's difficulties [11][12][13]. Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion and lack of job satisfaction and is very common among workers in helping or educational professions [14]. The frequent staff turnover in residential childcare due to burnout, exacerbated by the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff during COVID-19, has a direct impact on vulnerable children who have already experienced a series of attachment and relationship breakdowns.…”