Specific Aspects of Professional Psychological Well-Being of Social Workers Providing Support to Veterans of Military Conflicts and Their Family Members

Background. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to maintain the professional effectiveness of social workers who provide personalized support to veterans of military conflicts and their family’s veterans of military conflicts and their families. Given the high risk of such activities for the mental health and well-being of professionals themselves, timely diagnosis can help prevent its negative consequences, including the prevention of emotional burnout. Objective. Diagnosis of the level and specificity of burnout, investigation of its connection with negative emotional states and sources of perceived socio-psychological support and search for its predictors in social workers. Study Participants. Social workers (N = 62) aged between 20 and 66 years, of whom 6 were male. Methods. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and Assessing ways of coping with negative emotional states. Results. The level of personal burnout in respondents is significantly higher than the level of professional burnout and burnout related to clients. The levels of all three types of burnout are directly related to measures of depression, anxiety, and stress. Client-related burnout is inversely weakly related to perceived social support. Different types of activities that most often help to cope with negative emotions, their relationship with burnout and burnout predictor were identified. Conclusions. The prevalence of personal burnout among social workers over other types suggests that motivation to help target categories protects them from professional burnout and burnout related to clients. Of the sources of support, family and friends were the most important contributors to burnout reduction, and browsing the Internet, immersing oneself in work, exercising, watching movies, and sleeping were found to be effective coping techniques. The only predictor of burnout is stress, which emphasizes the necessity of its prevention at the individual and especially at the organizational level.