Challenging behaviour and staff stress : exploring the mechanism of action

Abstract

Challenging behaviours have been consistently identified as one of the most stressful aspects of working with people with intellectual disabilities. This thesis aims to build upon our current understanding of the identified relationship between challenging behaviours and staff stress. In the literature review, I shall critically appraise the research that explicitly explores the connection between exposure to challenging behaviours and staffs' stressful responses. It seems that reasonable evidence has been found for an association, but the strength of this relationship remains questionable. As a consequence, a psychological mechanism by which challenging behaviours may have its effects on staff stress is proposed. Specifically, staff self-efficacy in dealing with challenging behaviours is suggested to influence the impact of exposure to challenging behaviours on staff stress, and the research evidence for this proposition is duly considered. The empirical paper seeks to establish the role of self-efficacy using a questionnaire survey. It was hypothesised that: 1) exposure to challenging behaviours and staff self-efficacy in dealing with challenging behaviours would predict stress at work; 2) self-efficacy would either mediate or moderate the impact of challenging behaviours on staff stress. Results suggested that the association between exposure to challenging behaviours and staff stress may not be direct, but there was also no evidence for the role of self-efficacy as a psychological mechanism in explaining this link. A number of measurement and design issues may explain the lack of positive findings in this study. The clinical and research implications of these results are also discussed.

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