Fatigue and perceived social support as predictive factors for aggressive behaviors among mental healthcare professionals

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Τo examine the relationship of perceived social support and fatigue as predictors of aggressive behaviors among mental healthcare professionals.
METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2018–June 2018 with 104 mental healthcare professionals who completed three questionnaires online, specifically, the Greek version of the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), the Greek version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Greek version of the Aggression Questionnaire (G-AQ). The analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22.0. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression analysis, and the Pearson (r) correlation coefficient test were used.
RESULTS The mental healthcare professionals reported high rates of fatigue and aggression and low levels of social support. Fatigue was reported by 54.8% (n=57) of the sample. The total score on FAS and its dimensions “mental
fatigue” and “physical fatigue” were found to be significant predictors of aggressive behavior, while social support was not. The total score on MSPSS was found to be a significant predictor of “physical aggression”. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between fatigue and perceived social support. CONCLUSIONS Mental healthcare professionals present high rates of fatigue and aggression and record low levels of social support. These findings are of importance for developing a model of intervention that can prevent and diminish aggressive behaviors in this group