TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Emotional responses of staff to assault in a pediatric state hospital
JO  - The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
A1  - Ryan, Eileen P.
A1  - Aaron, Jeffrey
A1  - Burnette, Mandi L.
A1  - Warren, Jane
A1  - Burket, Roger
A1  - Aaron, Theresa
SP  - 360
EP  - 368
VL  - 36
IS  - 3
N2  - In this study, we examined the emotional responses of staff to patient-on-staff assault at a state inpatient psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. Staff (n = 93) completed self-report measures assessing general psychiatric functioning and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Staff assaulted by patients in the past six months (n = 59) were compared with those who had not been assaulted (n = 34). Direct-care staff were more likely to be assaulted than were other staff. Assaulted staff were more likely to report prior nonsexual assault by a stranger, higher anxiety, more somatic concerns, greater vulnerability and lack of control, and higher levels of impairment at work and were more likely to consider terminating employment than were non-assaulted staff. Our cross-sectional data suggest several differences in assaulted versus non-assaulted staff. Further studies are needed to determine whether differences in anxiety and traumatic events precede assaults or represent antecedent risk factors for being assaulted.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1093-6793
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -