A scoping review of stress in residential childcare workers

Residential childcare workers face stressors such as violence and heavy workloads, leading to stress. This scoping review aimed to synthesise research on stress in residential childcare workers and identify research gaps. APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and Social Work Abstracts were searched in January 2024 for papers on residential childcare worker stress. Of 3810 papers identified, 18 met the inclusion criteria. While a lot of research has focussed on predictors of burnout, there has been less research into predictors of perceived stress, hair cortisol, indirect trauma and post-traumatic symptoms. Largely, appraisals and coping have been omitted. Few findings have successful replications. Residential childcare workers face numerous stressors predicting high burnout and indirect trauma. However, there is a need to explore appraisals and coping in finer detail and replicate many of the existing findings.