TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological impacts of challenging behaviour and motivational orientation in staff supporting individuals with autistic spectrum conditions
AU - Merrick, Alistair D
AU - Grieve, Alan
AU - Cogan, Nicola
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - Despite increased risk of experiencing challenging behaviour, psychological impacts on community and residential staff supporting adults with autistic spectrum conditions are under-explored. Studies examining related roles indicate protective psychological factors may help maintain staff well-being. This study investigated relationships between motivational orientation (eudaimonic or hedonic), challenging behaviour frequency and type (physical, verbal or self-injurious) and psychological impacts (anxiety, depression and life satisfaction). Participants (N = 99) were recruited from six organisations providing autism-specific adult services within Scotland. A series of binary logistic regressions demonstrated weekly challenging behaviour exposure (compared to monthly or daily) significantly increased the likelihood of anxiety caseness. Increased eudaimonic motivation significantly reduced the likelihood of anxiety caseness while also predicting higher life satisfaction. Furthermore, having high levels of eudaimonic motivation appeared to moderate the impact of weekly challenging behaviour exposure on anxiety. No motivational orientation or challenging behaviour factor significantly predicted depression. This sample also demonstrated higher anxiety, lower depression and equivalent life satisfaction levels compared with general population norms. The results highlight the need for considering staff’s motivational orientations, their frequency of exposure to challenging behaviour, and both positive and negative psychological outcomes, if seeking to accurately quantify or improve well-being in this staff population.
AB - Despite increased risk of experiencing challenging behaviour, psychological impacts on community and residential staff supporting adults with autistic spectrum conditions are under-explored. Studies examining related roles indicate protective psychological factors may help maintain staff well-being. This study investigated relationships between motivational orientation (eudaimonic or hedonic), challenging behaviour frequency and type (physical, verbal or self-injurious) and psychological impacts (anxiety, depression and life satisfaction). Participants (N = 99) were recruited from six organisations providing autism-specific adult services within Scotland. A series of binary logistic regressions demonstrated weekly challenging behaviour exposure (compared to monthly or daily) significantly increased the likelihood of anxiety caseness. Increased eudaimonic motivation significantly reduced the likelihood of anxiety caseness while also predicting higher life satisfaction. Furthermore, having high levels of eudaimonic motivation appeared to moderate the impact of weekly challenging behaviour exposure on anxiety. No motivational orientation or challenging behaviour factor significantly predicted depression. This sample also demonstrated higher anxiety, lower depression and equivalent life satisfaction levels compared with general population norms. The results highlight the need for considering staff’s motivational orientations, their frequency of exposure to challenging behaviour, and both positive and negative psychological outcomes, if seeking to accurately quantify or improve well-being in this staff population.
KW - anxiety
KW - autism
KW - autistic spectrum conditions
KW - challenging behaviour
KW - depression
KW - eudaimonia
KW - hedonia
KW - life satisfaction
KW - motivation
KW - support workers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029455722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://journals.sagepub.com/home/aut
U2 - 10.1177/1362361316654857
DO - 10.1177/1362361316654857
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029455722
VL - 21
SP - 872
EP - 880
JO - Autism International Journal
JF - Autism International Journal
SN - 1362-3613
IS - 7
ER -