Attributional styles of support staff working with people with intellectual disabilities exhibiting challenging behaviour.
Kim J H M van den Bogaard, Henk L I Nijman, Petri J C M Embregts
PMID 31746107WHAT IT FOUND
Staff attributed self-harm to the client's stable traits more often than aggression.
When staff blamed themselves, they saw the causes as changeable. This pattern suggests staff may feel helpless to alter self-harm, viewing it as fixed within the person rather than interactive.
Key findings
01Support staff identified clients as the cause of challenging behaviour in 72.5% of cases, significantly less often blaming themselves for self-injurious behaviour compared to aggressive behaviour.
02A specific attributional style viewing causes as stable, global, internal, personal and uncontrollable was significantly more common for self-injurious behaviour than for aggressive behaviour or sexualized challenging behaviour.
03When staff identified themselves as the cause of the behaviour, they were more likely to rate the cause as unstable, implying they believed the situation could change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study included only 19 staff members, all working with people with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities, so findings may not apply to staff supporting people with severe disabilities. Participants described memorable incidents from the past, which may not reflect current reactions or recent events. The study measured attributions only; it did not observe or measure how these beliefs actually changed staff behaviour or patient outcomes. Staff had received training on managing aggressive behaviour but not on SIB or SCB, which may have influenced how they explained those behaviours.
Declared interests
No conflict of interest declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that changing staff attributions will automatically improve patient outcomes. This study measured what staff believed caused behaviour, not whether those beliefs translated into different actions or reduced challenging behaviour.