PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF STAFF WORKING WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR

The present survey explored stress in direct-care staff working with p eople who have learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. A tota l of 78 (82.7% response rate) staff working in 14 small community hous es participated. Houses were selected on the basis of 'expert' (Head o f Psychology Services) knowledge of houses where residents were known to display challenging behaviour and houses where there was no known h istory of challenging behaviour. Residents were assessed by key worker s for adaptive behaviour, challenging behaviour and mental health usin g partially validated questionnaires. Staff completed self-report ques tionnaires on job demands, anxiety and depression, staff support, and information on the presence/absence of challenging behaviour in their home. Staff working in houses with residents who showed challenging be haviour were significantly more anxious than staff working in houses w ith no challenging behaviour; they also reported feeling significantly less supported, were less clear about the identification of risk situ ations and had lower job satisfaction. No differences were found on me asures of job demands and depression. Regression analyses exploring th e relationships between these variables are discussed along with the i mplications of the findings.