Help seeking among helping professionals: a role identity perspective.
Helping professionals, like the rest of the general population, have multiple identities (e.g., parent, community member), and many have prominent role identities as personal and professional caregivers. A recent instrument validation study illustrated that caregiver role identity is related to increased personal distress (e.g., depression, burnout), and this distress can negatively influence practitioners' professional work. This article builds on this research by expanding the conceptualization of role identity theory and extending its application to help seeking behaviors among 751 respondents in a representative sample of practicing social workers. Logistic regression analyses of data from this new measure suggest caregiver role identity may be an important risk factor for professionals needing to seek assistance for their own personal problems.
Siebert
Darcy Clay
DC
School of Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 23206-2570, USA. dsiebert@fsu.edu
Siebert
Carl F
CF
D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires