Objective: This article reports the validation of the Caregiver Role Identity Scale, designed to measure the prominence of helping professionals’identity as personal and professional caregivers. The authors developed the measure to test its application to burnout, depression, and professional impairment among social workers. Method: Data from a probability sample of 751 practicing social workers were collected in an anonymous survey about social workers’ health and work issues. The authors split the sample to conduct exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results: The exploratory analysis demonstrated good internal consistency reliability, good content validity, and preliminary discriminant validity. The confirmatory analysis demonstrated excellent factorial validity for a revised scale, retaining reliability and demonstrating convergent validity. Caregiver role identity was related to burnout, depression, professional impairment, and not seeking help for personal problems. Conclusions: This scale may be a useful tool for early identification, prevention, and intervention strategies for impairment among social workers.
Byrne, B. (1991). The Maslach Burnout Inventory: Validating factorial structure and invariance across intermediate, secondary, and university educators. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 26, 583-605.
2.
Centrella, M. (1994). Physician addiction and impairment-current thinking: A review. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 13, 91-105.
3.
Corey, M. S., & Corey, G. (1998). Becoming a helper. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
4.
Deutsch, C. J. (1984). Self-reported sources of stress among psychotherapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 15, 833-884.
5.
Deutsch, C. J. (1985). A survey of therapists’ personal problems and treatment. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 16, 305-315.
6.
DiCaccavo, A. (2002). Investigating individuals’ motivations to become counseling psychologists: The influence of early caretaking roles within the family. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 75, 463-472.
7.
Dillman, D. A. (2000). Mail and internet surveys: The tailored design method. New York: John Wiley.
8.
Doyle, B. B. (1987). The impaired psychiatrist. Psychiatric Annals, 17, 760-763.
9.
Duquette, A., Kerouac, S., Sandhu, B. K., & Beaudet, L. (1994). Factors related to nursing burnout: A review of empirical knowledge. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 15, 337-358.
10.
Felton, J. S. (1998). Burnout as a clinical entity—Its importance in health care workers. Occupational Medicine, 48, 237-250.
11.
Good, G. E., Thoreson, R. W., & Shaughnessy, P. (1995). Substance use, confrontation of impaired colleagues, and psychological functioning among counseling psychologists: A national survey. The Counseling Psychologist, 23, 703-721.
12.
Hood, J. C., & Duphorne, P. L. (1995). To report or not to report: Nurses’ attitudes toward reporting coworkers suspected of substance abuse. Journal of Drug Issues, 25, 313-339.
13.
Hughes, P. H., Brandenberg, N., Baldwin, D. C., Storr, C. L., Williams, K. M., Anthony, J. C., et al. (1992). Prevalence of substance abuse among US physicians. Journal of American Medical Association, 267, 2333-2340.
14.
Koeske, G. F., & Koeske, R. D. (1989). Work load and burnout: Can social support and perceived accomplishment help?Social Work, 34, 243-248.
15.
Koeske, G. F., & Koeske, R. D. (1993). A preliminary test of a stress-strain-outcome model for reconceptualizing the burnout phenomenon. Journal of Social Services Research, 17, 107-135.
16.
Kottler, J., & Hazler, R. J. (1996). Impaired counselors: The dark side brought into light. Journal of Humanistic Education and Development, 34, 98-107.
17.
Kottler, J. A. (1993). On being a therapist. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
18.
McAuliffe, W. E., Rohman, M., Breer, P., Witshak, G., Santangelo, S., & Magnuson, E. (1991). Alcohol use and abuse in random samples of physicians and medical students. American Journal of Public Health, 81, 177-182.
19.
McCall, G. J., & Simmons, J. L. (1978). The role-identity model. In Identities and interactions: An examination of human associations in everyday life(pp. 1-288). New York: Free Press.
20.
Nace, E. P. (1995). The professional paradox. In E. P. Nace (Ed.), Achievement and addiction: A guide to the treatment of professionals(pp. 1-7). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
21.
National Association of SocialWorkers. (1996). Code of ethics. Washington, DC: Author.
22.
O’Connor, M. (2001). On the etiology and effective management of professional distress. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32, 345-350.
23.
Pope, K. S., Tabachnick, B. G., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (1987). Ethics of practice: The beliefs and behaviors of psychologists as therapists. American Psychologist, 42, 993-1006.
24.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: Aself-report depression scale for research in the population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.
25.
Sherman, M. D., & Thelen, M. H. (1998). Distress and professional impairment among psychologists in professional practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 29, 79-85.
26.
Siebert, D. C. (2001). Work and well being: A survey of distress and impairment among North Carolina social workers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina.
27.
Siebert, D. C. (2003). Denial of AOD use: An issue for social workers and the profession. Health and Social Work, 28, 89-97.
28.
Siebert, D. C. (2004). Depression in North Carolina social workers: Implications for practice and research. Social Work Research, 28, 30-40.
29.
Siebert, D. C. (in press-a). Help seeking and AOD use among social workers: Patterns, barriers, and implications. Social Work.
30.
Siebert, D. C. (in press-b). Personal and occupational factors in burnout among practicing social workers: Implications for researchers, practitioners, and managers. Journal of Social Services Research.
31.
Thoreson, R. W., Nathan, P. E., Skorina, J. K.,& Kilburg, R. R. (1983). The alcoholic psychologist: Issues, problems, and implications for the profession. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 14, 670-684.
32.
Trinkoff, A. M. (1998). Substance use among nurses: Differences between specialties. American Journal of Public Health, 88, 581-585.
33.
Trinkoff, A. F., Eaton, W. W.,& Anthony, J. C. (1994). The prevalence of substance abuse among registered nurses. Nursing Research, 40, 172-175.
34.
Trinkoff, A. M.,& Storr, C. (1997). Collecting substance use data with an anonymous mailed survey. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 48, 1-8.
35.
Trinkoff, A. M., Storr, C. L., & Wall, M. P. (1999). Prescription-type drug misuse and workplace access among nurses. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 18, 9-17.
36.
Trinkoff, A. M., Zhou, Q., Storr, C. L.,& Soeken, K., L. (2000). Workplace access, negative proscriptions, job strain, and substance use in registered nurses. Nursing Research, 49(2), 83-90.
37.
Vaillant, G. E. (1972). Some psychologic vulnerabilities of physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 28, 372-375.
38.
Vaillant, G. E. (1996). A long term follow-up of male alcohol abuse. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53, 243-249.
39.
Vincent, J. (1996). Why ever do we do it? Unconscious motivation in choosing social work as a career. Journal of Social Work Practice, 19, 63-69.
40.
Wood, B. J., Klein, S., Cross, H. J., Lammers, C. J., & Elliott, J. K. (1985). Impaired practitioners: Psychologists’ opinions about prevalence, and proposals for intervention. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 16, 843-850.
41.
Yadama, G. N., & Drake, B. (1995). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Social Work Research, 19, 184-192.
