Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Stress, depression, workplace and social supports and burnout in intellectual disability support staff
- Authors:
- MUTKINS E., BROWN R.F., THORSTEINSSON E.B.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 55(5), May 2011, pp.500-510.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Work stress, described as when the perceived demands of a job exceed one’s internal and external resources to do the job, is common in staff providing support to people with intellectual disabilities, putting them at increased risk of burnout. Stressors typically reported by those working in this environment include, challenging behaviour, interpersonal issues with colleagues and organisational concerns. The small prior literature provides little consensus on predictors of burnout in disability support staff. This study examined client behaviour, staff psychological stress, anxiety, depression, social support (number and satisfaction), organisational support and burnout in 80 disability support staff in a community setting in Australia. Burnout levels were similar to or slightly lower than normed values for human services staff. Cross-sectional regression analyses indicated that depression symptoms and organisational support were related to worse emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, whereas less social support was related to less personal accomplishment. Social support satisfaction (but not social support number or organisational support) moderated between high psychological stress and less emotional exhaustion. Taken together, these results suggest that depression symptoms and low organisational support are often concurrent with burnout symptoms. Worker’s personal and organisational supports may help to bolster their sense of personal accomplishment and buffer against the potential for emotional exhaustion.