Understanding Care Worker Well-Being and Job Satisfaction: The Influence of Intergenerational Contact and Aging Anxiety.

More positive intergroup contact experiences by care workers were associated with lower aging anxiety.

• Sample consisted of 144 care workers from 18 UK residential care homes
• Participants completed surveys measuring contact experiences, aging anxiety, subjective well-being, and job satisfaction
• Finding was described as 'consistent with expectations from intergroup contact theory'
• The association was tested using indirect effects (mediation) analyses

Psychological concerns about aging mediated the relationship between positive contact and care worker subjective well-being.

• Tests of indirect effects demonstrated this mediation pathway
• Psychological concerns represented one specific dimension of aging anxiety
• The mediation was directional: contact → psychological concerns → subjective well-being
• This pathway was specific to subjective well-being outcomes rather than job satisfaction

Fear of old people mediated the relationship between positive contact and care worker job satisfaction.

• Fear of old people represented a distinct dimension of aging anxiety from psychological concerns
• This mediation pathway was specific to job satisfaction rather than subjective well-being
• Tests of indirect effects demonstrated this mediation pathway
• The mediation was directional: contact → fear of old people → job satisfaction

The reverse sequence of mediation, in which aging anxiety affected outcomes via contact experiences, was not statistically supported.

• Exploratory analyses tested whether anxiety affecting satisfaction or well-being via contact experiences was a viable alternative model
• Results showed 'no statistical support' for this reverse mediation sequence
• This analysis was described as 'exploratory'
• The lack of support for the reverse direction strengthens the directional interpretation of contact influencing anxiety

The study examined care workers across multiple residential care homes in the UK.

• 144 care workers participated from 18 UK residential care homes
• Participants completed surveys about contact experiences, aging anxiety, well-being, and job satisfaction
• The multi-site design (18 care homes) provides breadth across care settings
• The study framed care worker–resident interactions as an intergroup contact context