G. Mitchell et Rp. Hastings, Coping, burnout, and emotion in staff working in community services for people with challenging behaviors, AM J MENT R, 106(5), 2001, pp. 448-459
Staff in mental retardation services identify challenging behavior as a sig
nificant source of work-related stress. However, there has been little exam
ination of the psychological processes that may explain an association betw
een challenging behavior and staff stress. In the present study; direct-car
e staff (N = 83) from five community services completed a questionnaire on
their emotional reactions to aggressive behavior, the coping strategies tha
t they employ, and their experience of burnout. Staff more frequently repor
ted 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 pre
dicted burnout scores. Implications of these results for future research an
d for staff mental health are discussed.