Exposure to challenging behaviours and burnout symptoms among care staff: the role of psychological resources.
M Klaver, B J van den Hoofdakker, H Wouters and 3 others
PMID 33331049WHAT IT FOUND
Staff exposed to challenging behaviours reported higher emotional exhaustion.
Supervisor support, self-efficacy, resilience and extraversion were linked to lower exhaustion, but none buffered the impact of exposure. Coworker support showed no significant protective effect.
Key findings
01Exposure to challenging behaviours was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion, and supervisor support, self-efficacy, resilience, and extraversion were negatively associated with exhaustion.
02No psychological resource moderated the relationship between exposure to challenging behaviours and emotional exhaustion.
0314% of participants met criteria for clinical burnout, and 88% reported working with individuals showing challenging behaviours.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design prevents determining whether burnout symptoms led to perceptions of more challenging behaviours or vice versa. Challenging behaviours were measured by staff report rather than direct observation, which may introduce bias. Only emotional exhaustion was used as the primary burnout outcome, ignoring depersonalisation and personal accomplishment. The sample was voluntary and may overrepresent staff willing to discuss personal experiences.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the Stichting Zorgondersteuningsfonds. The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that boosting staff resilience or self-efficacy will protect them from the specific impact of exposure to challenging behaviours. This study found these factors were linked to lower burnout overall, but they did not buffer the relationship between exposure and exhaustion.