Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T16:35:32.172Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Moderators of Workplace Aggression: The Influences of Social Support and Training

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2012

Valerie M. Brown ,
Jennifer (M.I.) Loh  and
Nigel V. Marsh
Valerie M. Brown*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Jennifer (M.I.) Loh
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Social Science, Edith Cowan University, Australia
Nigel V. Marsh
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Sunway University, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
*
address for correspondence: Valerie M. Brown, Department of Psychology, Psychological Sciences, 12th Floor, Redmond Barry Building, The University of MelbourneVIC 3010, Australia. Email: v.brown2@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

Reception and administrative employees may be particularly vulnerable to patient aggression in mental health services. This study examined whether satisfaction with social support and primary aggression training moderated the effects of perceived aggression on psychological distress and somatic symptoms in a sample of 101 employees. The biophysical model of threat and challenge, the stressor-stress-strain model, and the stress-buffering hypothesis served as theoretical frameworks. Results showed perceived aggression correlated positively with psychological distress, but not with somatic symptoms. Significant interactions were found for social support (buffering effect) and training (interaction effect) for somatic symptoms, but not for psychological distress. It is suggested that, for somatic symptoms, the moderation effects of social support and training on perceived aggression involve similar mechanisms (increased knowledge, self-esteem, perceived control, coping capacity). These findings provide support for the benefits of staff training and the incorporation of knowledge-based components in training programs.

Keywords

mental health servicesworkplace aggressionstressor-stress-strain modelstress-buffering hypothesissocial supportstaff training
Type
Articles
Information
The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology , Volume 5 , December 2012 , pp. 32 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnetz, J.E., & Arnetz, B.B. (2000). Implementation and evaluation of a practical intervention program for dealing with violence towards health care workers. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31, 668–680.Google Scholar
Bem, D.J. (1967). Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychological Review, 74, 183–200.Google Scholar
Bem, D.J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1–62). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bjøkly, S. (1999). A ten-year prospective study of aggression in a special secure unit for dangerous patients. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 40, 57–63.Google Scholar
Blascovich, J., & Mendes, W.B. (2000). Challenge and threat appraisals: The role of affective cues. In Forgas, J. (Ed.), Feeling and thinking: The role of affect in social cognition (pp. 59–82). Paris: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Blascovich, J., & Tomaka, J. (1996). The biopsychosocial model of arousal regulation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 28, 1–51.Google Scholar
Bowers, L., Nijman, H., Allan, T., Simpson, A., Warren, J., & Turner, L. (2006). Prevention and management of aggression training and violent incidents on UK acute psychiatric wards. Psychiatric Services, 57, 1022–1026.Google Scholar
Budd, J.W., Arvey, R.D., & Lawless, P. (1996). Correlates and consequences of workplace violence. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1, 197–210.Google Scholar
Cassel, J.C. (1976). The contribution of the social environment to host resistance. American Journal of Epidemiology, 104, 107–123.Google Scholar
Cheng, Y., Kawachi, I., Coakley, E.H., Schwartz, J., & Colditz, G. (2000). Association between psychosocial work characteristics and health functioning in American women: Prospective study. British Medical Journal, 320, 1432–1436.Google Scholar
Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 38, 300–314.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S.G., & Aiken, L.S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Cohen, S., & Pressman, S. (2004). Stress-buffering hypothesis. In Anderson, N.B. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of health and behavior (pp. 780–782). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Cohen, S., & Wills, T.A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.Google Scholar
Di Martino, V. (2003). Relationship of work stress and workplace violence in the health sector. Joint Programme on Workplace Violence in the Health Sector — International Labour Office (ILO), International Council of Nurses (ICN), World Health Organisation (WHO), Public Services International (PSI). Retrieved from http://www.icn.ch/SewWorkplace/WPV_HS_StressViolence%20.pdfGoogle Scholar
Di Martino, V., Hoel, H., & Cooper, C.L. (2003). Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Retrieved from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef02109.htmGoogle Scholar
Driscoll, R.J., Worthington, K.A., & Hurrell, J.J. (1995). Workplace assault: An emerging job stressor. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 47, 205–211.Google Scholar
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavioral Research Methods, 39, 175–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finnema, E.J., Dassen, T., & Halfens, R. (1994). Aggression in psychiatry: A qualitative study focusing on the characterization and perception of patient aggression by nurses working on psychiatric wards. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 19, 1088–1095.Google Scholar
Francis, L., & Kelloway, E.K. (2005). Industrial relations. In Barling, J., Kelloway, E.K., & Frone, M. (Eds.), Handbook of work stress (pp. 325–352). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Fry, A.J., O'Riordan, D., Turner, M., & Mills, K.L. (2002). Survey of aggressive incidents experienced by community mental health staff. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 11, 112–120.Google Scholar
Greenberg, N., Carr, J.A., & Summers, C.H. (2002). Causes and consequences of stress. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 42, 508–516.Google Scholar
Guimont, C., Brisson, C., Dagenais, G.R., Milot, A., Vezina, M., Masse, B., . . . Blanchette, C. (2006). Effects of job strain on blood pressure: A prospective study of male and female white-collar workers. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1436–1443.Google Scholar
Hills, D. (2008). Relationships between aggression management training, perceived self-efficacy and rural general hospital nurses’ experiences of patient aggression. Contemporary Nurse, 31, 20–31.Google Scholar
Hogh, A., & Viitasara, E. (2005). A systematic review of longitudinal studies of nonfatal workplace violence. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 14, 291–313.Google Scholar
Jonker, E.J., Goossens, P.J., Steenhuis, I.H., & Oud, N.E. (2008). Patient aggression in clinical psychiatry: Perceptions of mental health nurses. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 15, 492–499.Google Scholar
Kitchener, B.A., & Jorm, A.F. (2004). Mental health first aid training in a workplace setting: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 4, 1–8.Google Scholar
Kouvonen, A., Kivimaki, M., Vaanenen, A., Heponiemi, T., Elovainio, M., Ala-Mursula, L., . . . Vahtera, J. (2007). Job strain and adverse health behaviors: The Finnish Public Sector Study. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 49, 68–74.Google Scholar
Lawoko, S., Soares, J.J., & Nolan, P. (2004). Violence towards psychiatric staff: A comparison of gender, job and environmental characteristics in England and Sweden. Work & Stress, 18, 39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovibond, S.H., & Lovibond, P.F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress scales (2nd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Psychology Foundation.Google Scholar
Maguire, J., & Ryan, D. (2007). Aggression and violence in mental health services: Categorizing the experiences of Irish nurses. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 14, 120–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayhew, C., & Chappell, D. (2007). Workplace violence: An overview of patterns of risk and the emotional/stress consequences on targets. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 30, 327–339.Google Scholar
Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C.E. (2003). Social causes of psychological distress (2nd ed.). New York: Aldine De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Naish, J., Carter, Y.H., Gray, R.W., Stevens, T., Tissier, J.M., & Gantley, M.M. (2002). Brief encounters of aggression and violence in primary care: A team approach to coping strategies. Family Practice, 19, 504–510.Google Scholar
Nijman, H., Bowers, L., Oud, N.E., & Jansen, G.J. (2005). Psychiatric nurses’ experiences with inpatient aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 217–227.Google Scholar
Oostrom, J.K., & Mierol, H. (2008). An evaluation of an aggression management training program to cope with workplace violence in the healthcare sector. Research in Nursing & Health, 31, 320–328.Google Scholar
Oster, A., & Bernhaum, S.P. (2001). Determinants of violence in the psychiatric emergency service. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 164, 32–33.Google Scholar
Oud, N.E. (2001, June). Testing the perceptions of Prevalence of Aggression Scale. Paper presented at the 2nd European Congress on Violence in Clinical Psychiatry, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Oud, N.E. (2006). Aggression management training programs: Contents, implementation, and organization. In Richter, R. & Whittington, D. (Eds.), Violence in mental health settings: Causes, consequences, management (pp. 193–210). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Parent-Thirion, A., Fernández Macías, E., Hurley, J., & Vermeylen, G. (2007). Fourth European Working Conditions Survey. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities: Europe Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Retrieved from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0698.htmGoogle Scholar
Pennebaker, J.W. (1982). The psychology of physical symptoms. New York: Springer. 1982Google Scholar
Perrone, S. (1999). Violence in the workplace (Australian Institute of Criminology — Research and Public Policy Series, No 22). Retrieved from http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/current%20series/rpp/21–40/rpp22.aspx.Google Scholar
Richter, D. (2006). Nonphysical conflict management and deescalation. In Richter, R. & Whittington, D. (Eds.), Violence in mental health settings: Causes, consequences, management (pp. 125–144). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Richter, D., Needham, I., & Kunz, S. (2006). The effects of aggression management training for mental health care and disability care staff: A systematic review. In Richter, D. & Whittington, R. (Eds.), Violence in mental health settings: Causes, consequence, management (pp. 211–227). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Rogers, K.A., & Kelloway, E.K. (1997). Violence at work: Personal and organizational outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2, 63–71.Google Scholar
Sarason, I.G., Sarason, B.R., Shearin, E.N., & Pierce, G.R. (1987). A brief measure of social support: Practical and theoretical implications. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 4, 497–510.Google Scholar
Schat, A.C., & Kelloway, E.K. (2000). Effects of perceived control on the outcomes of workplace aggression and violence. Journal of Occupationl Health Psychology, 5, 386–402.Google Scholar
Schat, A.C., & Kelloway, E.K. (2003). Reducing the adverse consequences of workplace aggression and violence: The buffering effects of organizational support. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 8, 110–122.Google Scholar
Schat, A.C., & Kelloway, E. (2005). Workplace aggression. In Barling, J., Kelloway, E.K. & Frone, M.R. (Eds.), Handbook of work stress (pp. 189–218). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Soares, J.J., Lawoko, S., & Nolan, P. (2000). The nature, extent and determinants of violence against psychiatric personnel. Work & Stress, 4, 105–120.Google Scholar
Strazdins, L., D'Souza, R.M., Lim, L.L., Broom, D.H., & Rodgers, B. (2004). Job strain, job insecurity, and health: Rethinking the relationship. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9, 296–305.Google Scholar
Tomaka, J., Blascovich, J., Kelsey, R.M., & Leitten, C.L. (1993). Subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of threat and challenge appraisal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18, 616–624.Google Scholar
Tomaka, J., Blascovich, J., Kibler, J., & Ernst, J. (1997). Cognitive and physiological antecedents of threat and challenge appraisal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 63–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Emmerik, I.H., Euwema, M.C., & Bakker, A.B. (2007). Threats of workplace violence and the buffering effect of social support. Group and Organization Management, 32, 152–175.Google Scholar
Viswesvaran, C., Sanchez, J., & Fisher, J. (1999). The role of social support in the process of work stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 314–334.Google Scholar
Wildgoose, J., Briscoe, M., & Lloyd, K. (2003). Psychological and emotional problems in staff following assaults by patients. Psychiatric Bulletin, 27, 295–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wykes, T., & Whittington, R. (1998). Prevalence and predictors of early traumatic stress reactions in assaulted psychiatric nurses. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 9, 643–658.Google Scholar
Zarola, A., & Leather, P. (2006). Violence and aggression management training for trainers and managers: A national evaluation of the training provision in healthcare settings. Nottingham, United Kingdom: University of Nottingham.Google Scholar