When helping hands are tied: The role of moral distress and organizational support in the mental health of child protection workers

• Anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms are common in child-protection workers. • Beyond exposure to traumatic events, moral distress may explain these symptoms. • Organizational support is negatively related to mental health symptoms. • Organizational support may mitigate the detrimental role of moral distress. • Acknowledging moral distress may benefit individuals, institutions and clients. Background . Research suggests the deteriorating mental health of Child Protection Workers (CPWs) cannot be solely explained by the potentially traumatic events they are commonly exposed to. The emotional burden stemming from the inability to provide appropriate help (i.e., moral distress) may foster stress-related mental health disorders: anxiety, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, organizational resources such as Perceived Organizational Support (POS) may be instrumental in mitigating this process. Objective . Based on the Conservation of Resources theory, this study examines the moderating role of POS in the relationship between moral distress and stress-related mental health disorders in CPWs. Methods . A convenience sample of French CPWs ( N = 536) completed an online questionnaire assessing moral distress, POS and stress-related mental health disorders. Hypotheses were tested via structural equation modeling using a residual-centered latent interaction. We controlled for demographic variables, felt accountability and exposure to potentially traumatic events at work. Results . Prevalence of anxiety (25%), depression (28%) and PTSD (19%) was high. Moral distress was positively related to all mental health disorders, whereas POS was negatively so. POS interacted significantly with moral distress so that its relationship with mental health outcomes was weaker when POS was high. Conclusions . The various constraints CPWs face in their attempts to provide appropriate help – the extent to which their hands are tied – could condition the deterioration of their mental health. To preserve CPWs’ mental health, stakeholders should provide them with the organizational and psychosocial resources required to cope with this burden – such as valuing their efforts and acknowledging their troubles (i.e., POS).