The main objective of the research is to study caregivers’ professional engagement.
To be more precise, we seek to know if this commitment is stronger when caregivers are socially isolated in their private life.
If such a process exists, it could be a kind of conscious and/or unconscious psychic compensation for private life over professional life.
In this study, we have established as the main hypothesis the fact that health professionals in a proven situation of social isolation tend to build a psychic strategy of social relationships’ compensation by developing more commitment at work and mainly toward their patients.
Variables studied here have been used in a lot of other investigations. Some data show that in France an average of one person in ten lives in a socially isolated environment (Pan Ké Shon, 2009).
Hawthorne was the first to investigate on social isolation. He demonstrated that this concept was a multidimensional one. Charest and Kaufman remind us that it also implied a notion of suffering and that in some cases this solitude may also be necessary.
Studies from Chicago and Harvard, for their part, point out that loneliness can be a source of many health problems.
In this compensation system, it is important to understand the links between personal and professional life.
These two variables have a complex interaction with the environment and personality of an individual.
The retroactive effect of these spheres, which is more often criticized than praised, can be positive, as recalled in 2006 studies (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006; Hanson, Hammer & Colton, 2006).
Professional engagement is the opposite concept of burnout. Shauféli (Shaufeli et al., 2002, p.6) defines it as “a positive and fulfilling emotional state, characteristic of vigor, dedication and absorption”.
To have the full picture, this study also evaluates the workaholism as a control variable of the professional engagement.
This phenomenon, as explained by Castro (2004), defines the addictive form that work can take when the worker gives it more and more time without benefit on his well-being, which leads to a multitude of negative consequences on a private and professional level.
Given our study objective, we conducted a quantitative research.
To collect our data, we realized a questionnaire and obtained 153 answers from caregivers on a national level.
Selected health personals work in structures with regular and long-term basis contacts with patients.
A total of 157 participants, mainly composed by women (96,7%). Among them, 56% have no children. They are from 19 to 60 years old. Nursing auxiliary is the most represented profession (62,4%).
First, we quantified the social isolation by the Harwthrone scale (2006). Then the measure of Nijmegen de Guerts (2000) has been used to evaluate the private life vs work life interface.
The third scale used was the short version of Schaufeli et al. (2006) to measure the professional engagement. Finally, we measured the workaholism by using the scale of DUWAS made by Shaufeli et al. in 2009.
In addition, some socio-demographic questions were proposed to collect more information about the respondents such as their age, family status, medical profession, etc.
Results’ statistical analysis by the Anova reveals no interaction between variables. Nevertheless, we found significant correlations with the Bravais Pearson test:
– The stronger the professional commitment, the more balanced the private/professional life interface.
– When this commitment increases, work addiction increases as well. There is therefore a reciprocal effect between these two variables.
– The more unbalanced the interface private/professional life is, the stronger the work addiction will be and the most quickly the social isolation will appear.
Analysis suggests some links between variables. However, correlation coefficients are remaining low which is making the results hard to extrapolate.
It would therefore be wise to strengthen the study by adding other variables in the idea of better considering and capturing possible effects from one sphere to another.
Different approaches could be used, such as the study of variables related to anxiety, burnout or perceived value of work.
A qualitative study would be interesting to obtain other evidences and new leads on this subject.
Key words: Loneliness, social isolation, social relationships, social support, work- family interface, workaholism, professional commitment
Words I have learned :
social isolation = isolement social
Workaholism = addiction au travail
Loneliness = solitude
Caregiver = soignant