Role Stress, Job Embeddedness, and Self-Efficacy of Child Directors in China

Child directors constitute the foundation of the three-level child protection system in China and play a crucial role in child protection and welfare. This study investigated the role stress (i.e. role overload, role conflict, and role ambiguity), job embeddedness (i.e. job fit, job links, and job sacrifice), and self-efficacy among 709 child directors. The findings revealed that child directors presented lower levels of role ambiguity and higher levels of role conflict and overload. Based on the conservation of resource theory, we further explored the influence of resource gain and loss on the role stress of child directors. The results showed that job fit and links negatively correlated with role stress, while job sacrifice positively correlated with stress. Meanwhile, self-efficacy played dual moderating roles in the relationship between job sacrifice and role stress. In the future, it is essential for child directors to integrate both internal and external resources in order to reduce role stress and maintain a positive state at work.