Associations between child physical abuse potential, work-related burnout, mental health and executive functions in Italian professionals working with children and youth: A preliminary study

Background: Although commonly assumed to occur only in domestic settings with family caregivers, maltreatment is likely to happen in childcare settings too, perpetrated by professionals working with children and youth and leading to severe consequences on children's well-being. Most studies on institutional maltreatment focused on outcomes in children, without investigating the role of individual psychological variables in perpetrators, which may partly account for the occurrence of the event. For example, it is well known that professionals working with children and youth are at higher risk of experiencing work-related burnout, which in parents might account for poor parenting behaviors. Moreover, work-related burnout is associated with poor executive functioning, which may also affect the quality of caregiving. Finally, both burnout and executive function could be associated with mental health problems, which could increase the risk for maltreatment. Although the role of work-related burnout and executive functioning has been extensively studied in parents, no study has ever considered these aspects and their relationship with risk for child abuse in professionals working with children and youth. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate risk for child physical abuse, work-related burnout, and executive functioning in Italian professionals working with children and youth aged 0-18, testing their associations with socio-demographic and work-related variables. Secondly, the study aimed to investigate the role of work-related burnout, mental health problems, and executive functioning in predicting the risk of child physical abuse in professionals working with children and youth. Participants and setting: The study involved 125 professionals working with children and youth (79.4 % female) aged between 21 and 63 years (M = 40.50, SD = 11.80), recruited from educational and residential facilities that care for children and adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted. Participants were administered a comprehensive battery aimed at investigating socio-demographic and work-related characteristics, including presence/absence of mental health problems, risk for child abuse potential (BCAP), work-related burnout (MBI), and executive functioning (BRIEF-A). Results: The results indicated that, according to cut-off values, 14.3 % of participants were at risk for child abuse, 20.8 % exhibited burnout symptoms, 20.8 % reported the presence of past/ current mental health problems, and 5.0 % showed executive functioning difficulties. Risk for child abuse was significantly associated with both work-related burnout and executive functioning. The interaction between the two was not significant, suggesting independent effects. Further analyses highlighted that the presence of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, was also associated with risk for child abuse. Conclusions: The findings provide evidence for the association between work-related burnout, executive functioning, presence of mental health problems, and risk for child abuse among professionals working with children and youth. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.