The relationships between the attitudes toward care for the disabled, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction and burn-out of caregivers

This study aims to examine the attitudes toward care for the disabled, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction and burn-out of caregivers' working at centers for the disabled. In addition, this study inspects whether the variables in the study vary depending on demographic variables. Moreover, the study investigates the mediating and moderating roles of job satisfaction and burn-out in the relationship between perceived organizational support and the attitudes toward care for the disabled. Two hundred and seventy-six caregivers working at centers for the disabled in various cities in Turkey took part in the study. The Scale for the Attitudes Toward Care for the Disabled developed by the researcher was found to include four factors which are Perceptions Toward the Job, Challenges Posed by the Disabled, Challenges Due to Professional Inabilities, Emotional Dimension. Emotional Dimension had the highest mean among the four factors. However, Challenges Due to Professional Inabilities had the lowest mean. On the other hand, the fact that Challenges Posed by the Disabled had a mean greater than 3 indicates that caregivers have difficulty coping with challenges posed by the disabled. Yet, according to results caregivers' attitudes toward the job is somewhat positive. Personal Accomplishment had the highest mean among the three factors of the burn-out scale. Furthermore, despite the challenges of the job, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization had low means. In terms of job satisfaction of the caregivers, intrinsic satisfaction was slightly higher than extrinsic satisfaction and general satisfaction was approximately high. Perceived organizational support was, likewise, approximately high. This study also investigated whether variables in the study varied depending on the organization type employed; public or private. The results indicated that caregivers at private sector have higher perceived organizational support than caregivers at public sector. However, caregivers at public sector had higher scores on care for the disabled compared to caregivers a private sector. Notwithstanding, the results showed no significant difference among caregivers with or without disabled acquaintances in terms of variables investigated. In addition to descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, the study investigates the mediating and moderating roles of job satisfaction and burn-out in the relationship between perceived organizational support and the attitudes toward care for the disabled. Intrinsic satisfaction had a full mediating role in the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Perceptions Toward the Job, and in the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Emotional Dimension. Besides, Personal Accomplishment had a partial mediating role in the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Perceptions Toward the Job, and in the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Emotional Dimension. The results are discussed in the light of literature in the field. Keywords: attitude towards care for, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, burn-out, caregiver