Mental Workload and Burnout among Social Work Professionals in Spain: The Protective Role of Psychological Capital and Perceived Social Support.

Social workers are at high risk of suffering from burnout syndrome due to the high work demands and the characteristics of their professional practice, yet there is little research that investigates the predictors and protectors of burnout among this group. This article examined the relationship bet...

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Publicado en:Health & Social Work Vol. 51; no. 3; pp. 196 - 206
Autores principales: Muro, Pilar Montañés, Argüello-Gutiérrez, Catalina, Burgos, Ingrit Moya, Hernández, Francisco Lucas Chinchilla
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Aug2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Mental Workload and Burnout among Social Work Professionals in Spain: The Protective Role of Psychological Capital and Perceived Social Support.
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        au:
          Muro, Pilar Montañés
          Argüello-Gutiérrez, Catalina
          Burgos, Ingrit Moya
          Hernández, Francisco Lucas Chinchilla
        affil:
          Pilar Montañés Muro,  PhD, is professor University of La Rioja, Logroño, Spain
          Catalina Argüello-Gutiérrez,  PhD, are associate professors University of La Rioja, Logroño, Spain
          Ingrit Moya Burgos,  PhD, are associate professors University of La Rioja, Logroño, Spain
          Francisco Lucas Chinchilla Hernández, PhD, is professor, University of La Rioja, Logroño, Spain
      su:
        Spain
        Cross-sectional method
        Psychological burnout
        Mental health
        Social workers
        Self-efficacy
        Optimism
        Job stress
        Job descriptions
        Social support
        Employees' workload
        Hope
        Risk assessment
        Scale analysis (Psychology)
        Psychological resilience
        T-test (Statistics)
        Questionnaires
        Statistical sampling
        Structural equation modeling
        Descriptive statistics
        Surveys
        Factor analysis
        Confidence intervals
        Data analysis software
        Regression analysis
      sug:
        subj:
          Cross-sectional method
          Psychological burnout
          Mental health
          Social workers
          Self-efficacy
          Optimism
          Job stress
          Job descriptions
          Social support
          Employees' workload
          Hope
          Spain
          Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)
          Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling
          Other Individual and Family Services
          Risk assessment
          Scale analysis (Psychology)
          Psychological resilience
          T-test (Statistics)
          Questionnaires
          Statistical sampling
          Structural equation modeling
          Descriptive statistics
          Surveys
          Factor analysis
          Confidence intervals
          Data analysis software
          Regression analysis
      keyword:
        burnout
        copyrightHolder:National Association of Social Workers
        copyrightYear:2026
        https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlag019
        inLanguage:en
        mediational analysis
        mental workload
        psychological capital
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42276977/
        social support
        social work
        workload
        burnout
        copyrightHolder:National Association of Social Workers
        copyrightYear:2026
        https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlag019
        inLanguage:en
        mediational analysis
        mental workload
        psychological capital
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42276977/
        social support
        social work
        workload
      ab: Social workers are at high risk of suffering from burnout syndrome due to the high work demands and the characteristics of their professional practice, yet there is little research that investigates the predictors and protectors of burnout among this group. This article examined the relationship between mental workload (MWL) and burnout in a sample of Spanish social workers. In addition, it analyzed whether psychological capital (PC) and perceived social support (PSS) mediate this relationship. For this purpose, 270 social work professionals completed an online questionnaire that collected information on MWL, PC, PSS, and burnout. The results show that MWL predicts burnout, and that PC and PSS only partially mediate the relationship between MWL and burnout. However, the direct effect of MWL on burnout remains significant, suggesting that other factors may also be involved. Nevertheless, PC and PSS act as internal and external protective factors, respectively, of burnout. This work underlines the importance of implementing interventions to strengthen personal resources and social support as a way to prevent burnout in social workers.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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