Page 51 - IJPS-9-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Professional quality of life – a mediation model

To enhance the incorporation of trauma-informed Writing – original draft preparation: Flavia Teculeasa
approaches in child welfare, comprehending the means Writing – Review & Editing: Florinda Golu
to safeguard child protection workers’ emotional well-
being while dealing with traumatized children is crucial. Ethics approval and consent to participate
Their continuous vulnerabilization represents a threat to This study was performed in line with the principles of
their ProQOL, the increase in turnover rates, children’s the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the
placement stability, and to the potential limitation Ethics Committee of University of Bucharest (23.04.2020/
of delivering quality services to the children in need No. 22). Participants enrolled in the study via an online
of substitute family and trauma support services. To survey created with Survey AnyPlace software. Before
maintain consistency in placements for children and completing the questionnaire, each participant was
retain employees, it is important for services to prioritize presented with a consent information screen informing
the welfare of child protection professionals. This participants of the purpose of the study and its voluntary
includes acknowledging the risk of CF and threats to nature. Moving on to the next page and completing the
their ProQOL. Findings confirm the effect of employee questionnaire represented their consent to participate in
attachment security and closeness towards children they the study.
work with on the ProQOL. Possible ways to implement
these results could be to consider attachment-based Consent for publication
approaches in supporting professionals, such as emotion- No identifying information of the participants appear
focused group therapy, and to promote closeness, in writing, only data representing answers to the
sensitivity towards children’s trauma, and empathy in questionnaires.
the child-employee dyad as part of the organizational
culture in the child welfare services. After performing Availability of data
a short review of the existing literature concerning We generated a private link for our data in the Figshare
effective interventions and support options for child repository: https://figshare.com/s/6d618f92f90b11425613
welfare professionals dealing with trauma, no studies
were identified. This could mean that more attention References
should be directed toward the research of effective tools Baugerud, G.A., Vangbaek, S., & Melinder, A. (2017). Secondary
for supporting child welfare employees who work with traumatic stress, burnout and compassion satisfaction
a vulnerable population. Additional investigation is among norwegian child protection workers: Protective and
necessary to examine the effectiveness of these measures risk factors. The British Journal of Social Work, 48:1-21.
and principles pertaining to organizational culture, as https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcx002
well as the overall welfare of child protection specialists
who are in direct contact with children who have Bifulco, A., Kwon, J., Jacobs, C., Moran, P.M., Bunn, A., & Beer, N.
experienced trauma. (2006). Adult attachment style as mediator between childhood
neglect/abuse and adult depression and anxiety. Social
Acknowledgments Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41(10):796-805.

None. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0101-z
Bloomquist, K.R., Wood, L., Friedmeyer-Trainor, K., & Kim,
Funding H.W. (2015). Self-care and professional quality of life:
Predictive factors among MSW practitioners. Advances in
None.
Social Work, 16(2), 292.
Conflict of interest https://doi.org/10.18060/18760
The authors declare they have no competing interests. Blythe, S.L., Halcomb, E.J., Wilkes, L., & Jackson, D. (2013).
Perceptions of long-term female foster-carers: I’m not
Author contributions a carer, i’m a mother. British Journal of Social Work,
43(6):1056-1072.
Conceptualization: Flavia Teculeasa, Florinda G
Methodology: Flavia Teculeasa, Adrian Gorbănescu https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs047
Formal analysis and Investigation: Flavia Teculeasa Blythe, S.L., Wilkes, L., & Halcomb, E.J. (2014). The foster carer’s
Supervision: Florinda Golu experience: An integrative review. Collegian (Royal College
Project Administration: Florinda Golu of Nursing, Australia), 21(1):21-32.
Validation: Flavia Teculeasa https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2012.12.001

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2023) 45 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.0884