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Coping, burnout, and emotion in staff working in community services for people with challenging behaviors

Coping, burnout, and emotion in staff working in community services for people with challenging behaviors
Coping, burnout, and emotion in staff working in community services for people with challenging behaviors
Staff in mental retardation services identify challenging behavior as a significant source of work-related stress. However, there has been little examination of the psychological processes that may explain an association between challenging behavior and staff stress. In the present study, direct-care staff (N = 83) from five community services completed a questionnaire on their emotional reactions to aggressive behavior, the coping strategies that they employ, and their experience of burnout. Staff more frequently reported using adaptive strategies than maladaptive ones to cope with aggressive behavior. Regression analyses showed that staff disengagement and adaptive coping strategies and their emotional reactions to aggressive behavior predicted burnout scores. Implications of these results for future research and for staff mental health are discussed.
0895-8017
448-459
Mitchell, G.
8e2ff092-f0cd-4529-bd6b-6a58ba5c81f8
Hastings, R.P.
7c2e6f17-c5e8-47bc-baff-137dd6ce9f9a
Mitchell, G.
8e2ff092-f0cd-4529-bd6b-6a58ba5c81f8
Hastings, R.P.
7c2e6f17-c5e8-47bc-baff-137dd6ce9f9a

Mitchell, G. and Hastings, R.P. (2001) Coping, burnout, and emotion in staff working in community services for people with challenging behaviors. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 106 (5), 448-459. (doi:10.1352/0895-8017(2001)106<0448:CBAEIS>2.0.CO;2).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Staff in mental retardation services identify challenging behavior as a significant source of work-related stress. However, there has been little examination of the psychological processes that may explain an association between challenging behavior and staff stress. In the present study, direct-care staff (N = 83) from five community services completed a questionnaire on their emotional reactions to aggressive behavior, the coping strategies that they employ, and their experience of burnout. Staff more frequently reported using adaptive strategies than maladaptive ones to cope with aggressive behavior. Regression analyses showed that staff disengagement and adaptive coping strategies and their emotional reactions to aggressive behavior predicted burnout scores. Implications of these results for future research and for staff mental health are discussed.

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More information

Submitted date: 20 April 2000
Published date: 2001

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 57960
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/57960
ISSN: 0895-8017
PURE UUID: 1178d4a9-77ac-4cf0-b541-4b5312328823

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Date deposited: 11 Aug 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 11:09

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Contributors

Author: G. Mitchell
Author: R.P. Hastings

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