Emotional responses of staff to assault in a pediatric state hospital.
In this study, we examined the emotional responses of staff to patient-on-staff assault at a state inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. Staff (n = 93) completed self-report measures assessing general psychiatric functioning and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Staff assaulted by patients in the past six months (n = 59) were compared with those who had not been assaulted (n = 34). Direct-care staff were more likely to be assaulted than were other staff. Assaulted staff were more likely to report prior nonsexual assault by a stranger, higher anxiety, more somatic concerns, greater vulnerability and lack of control, and higher levels of impairment at work and were more likely to consider terminating employment than were non-assaulted staff. Our cross-sectional data suggest several differences in assaulted versus non-assaulted staff. Further studies are needed to determine whether differences in anxiety and traumatic events precede assaults or represent antecedent risk factors for being assaulted.
Ryan
Eileen P
EP
Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavial Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA. er3h@virginia.edu
Aaron
Jeffrey
J
Burnette
Mandi L
ML
Warren
Janet
J
Burket
Roger
R
Aaron
Theresa
T
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006783:Hospitals, State; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence