Article ID: 93.21203
In this study, the Public Assistance Caseworker’s Stressors Inventory (PAC-SI) was developed and its reliability and validity were examined. In addition, we examined how social and institutional stressors, the work environment, and individual-level stressors worsen mental health. Factor analyses were conducted on the 54 items of the original version of the PAC-SI, which was developed through a preliminary survey. The results showed a five-factor structure with 22 items. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for reliability, and a value of .70 or higher was confirmed for each factor. Criterion-related validity showed that the PAC-SI was positively correlated with the Job Stress Scale-Revised Version (JSS-R). Therefore, the PAC-SI was confirmed to be sufficiently reliable and valid. The study also suggested that public assistance caseworkers can suffer deteriorating mental health due to individual-level stressors, which originate from social and institutional stressors and stressors caused by the work environment. This scale may be useful as a tool for labor management in public assistance departments, and subsequent studies are needed to reduce the three-layered structure of stressors.
