ORCID
- Oliver Beer: 0000-0001-8581-3673
Abstract
Job stress among child welfare professionals affects their mental and physical health and is associated with negative outcomes. Researchers have used self-report measures to document the stress experienced by those in the child welfare field, and this is the first study to use biometric technology across 72 h to identify physiological indicators of stress, recovery, and sleep in frontline child welfare workers in mostly rural areas (n = 32). A stress profile of the participants is presented on their heart rates, mean time-stressed, percent of time stressed, mean time relaxed, percent of time relaxed, mean sleep time, mean RMSSD in sleep, and body mass index (BMI). Variables were also examined by length of employment with the agency. Results indicate participants averaged nearly 16 h of physiological stress per day and were unable to spend much time in relaxation or recovery from stress. Stress appeared ubiquitous and possibly difficult to manage.
DOI Link
Publication Date
2025-01-04
Publication Title
Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science
Volume
10
Issue
3
Acceptance Date
2024-12-26
Deposit Date
2025-01-06
Funding
This work was financially supported by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services: Department for Medicaid Services, State University Partnership and the Kentucky Social Welfare Foundation.
Additional Links
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
First Page
672
Last Page
681
Recommended Citation
Griffiths, A., Link, K., Haughtigan, K., Beer, O., Powell, L., & Royse, D. (2025) 'A New Approach: Using Biometric Technology to Explore the Physiological Stress of Working in Child Welfare', Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 10(3), pp. 672-681. Available at: 10.1007/s41347-024-00475-x
