Cynthia B. Eriksson

Trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms in international relief and development personnel

International relief and development personnel may be directly or indirectly exposed to traumatic events that put them at risk for developing symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In order to identify areas of risk and related reactions, surveys were administered to 113 recently returned staff from 5 humanitarian aid agencies. Respondents reported high rates of direct and indirect exposure to life-threatening events. Approximately 30% of those surveyed reported significant symptoms of PTSD. Multiple regression analysis revealed that personal and vicarious exposure to life-threatening events and an interaction between social support and exposure to life threat accounted for a significant amount of variance in PTSD severity. These results suggest the need for personnel programs; predeployment training, risk assessment, and contingency planning may better prepare personnel for service.

Social support, organisational support, and religious support in relation to burnout in expatriate humanitarian aid workers

Expatriate humanitarian aid workers are embedded in global crises, exposing them to traumatic and occupational stress and putting them at risk for job burnout. Aid workers (N = 111) from an international faith-based agency completed an interview assessing perceived social support, support from their organisation, support from God, and job burnout. It was hypothesised that the three types of support would be significantly related to each of the three components of burnout as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The burnout subscales and the support measurements were orthogonalised to facilitate a hierarchical canonical analysis. When controlling for the effects of age and gender, perceived social support contributed significant unique variance to both emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment; whereas organisational support contributed significantly to emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. God support demonstrated a complex relationship with burnout, as the interaction between age and God support was significant with depersonalisation.

Cultural Identity and Reentry in Short-Term Student Missionaries

This study explores the relationship between cross cultural reentry and cultural identity in college student participants in short-term international mission trips. Twenty undergraduate students from a Christian college participated in focus groups discussing the question, “How did your experiences on your trip(s) influence your view of your home culture?” The discussion transcripts were coded, and analyzed according to (a) frequency, the number of times a theme was addressed; (b) extensiveness, the number of people who discussed a theme; and (c) intensity, the emotional strength of a response (Krueger, 1998). Negative reactions to home culture were the most frequent, extensive, and intense themes, followed by themes related to cultural awareness and personal growth. Other themes addressed adjustment and positive reactions to home culture. The findings imply that participants in short-term mission trips experience challenges to cultural identity, characterized by negative reactions. Recommendations for sending missions agencies are provided.

Stress, Mental Health, and Burnout in National Humanitarian Aid Workers in Gulu, Northern Uganda

This study examined the mental health of national humanitarian aid workers in northern Uganda and contextual and organizational factors predicting well-being. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 376 national staff working for 21 humanitarian aid agencies. Over 50% of workers experienced 5 or more categories of traumatic events. Although, in the absence of clinical interviews, no clinical diagnoses were able to be confirmed, 68%, 53%, and 26% of respondents reported symptom levels associated with high risk for depression, anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), respectively. Between one quarter and one half of respondents reported symptom levels associated with high risk regarding measured dimensions of burnout. Female workers reported significantly more symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and emotional exhaustion than males. Workers with the United Nations and related agencies reported fewest symptoms. Higher levels of social support, stronger team cohesion, and reduced exposure to chronic stressors were associated with improved mental health. National humanitarian staff members in Gulu have high exposure to chronic and traumatic stress and high risk of a range of poor mental health outcomes. Given that work-related factors appear to influence the relationship between the two strategies are suggested to support the well-being of national staff working in such contexts.

Predeployment Mental Health and Trauma Exposure of Expatriate Humanitarian Aid Workers: Risk and Resilience Factors

Expatriate aid workers (n = 214) representing 19 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) completed a predeployment survey, including measures of mental health (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]); risk factors (childhood trauma, family risk, and adult trauma exposure); and resilience factors (coping, social support, and healthy lifestyle) to assess their baseline mental health during preparation for deployment. Multiple regression analysis indicated that childhood trauma/family risk was not significantly related to depression, anxiety, or PTSD symptoms when controlling for report of prior mental illness; yet, adult trauma exposure was significantly related to all three. Social support contributed significant variance to depression and PTSD. NGOs can help applicants recognize the effects of recent trauma and the resilience provided by a healthy social network.

Factors Associated With Adverse Mental Health Outcomes in Locally Recruited Aid Workers Assisting Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) serve Iraqis living in Jordan as “guests.” In 2008, 258 Jordanian humanitarian staff and Iraqi volunteers working for NGOs completed a needs assessment survey. Work characteristics, stressors, and support variables were evaluated regarding their influence on depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and burnout through multivariate logistic regressions. There was a significant difference in depression, anxiety, and burnout across nationality. Traumatic exposure increased the risk for anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Working longer in the humanitarian sector was associated with less risk of anxiety and depression, and lower social support was a risk for anxiety. Managers were at higher risk for burnout, and low team cohesion was a risk for burnout. Implications for aid organizations are discussed.

Cross-Cultural Comparison of Religious Coping Methods Reported by Native Guatemalan and Kenyan Faith-Based Relief Providers

Guatemala and Kenya are both countries that have recently experienced political violence in the context of long histories of colonialization, oppression and poverty. The current study examines focus group responses of indigenous faith-based relief providers in Guatemala and Kenya describing how they utilized religion to cope with their own experience of political violence as well as to cope with stress related to providing relief services to others. In an effort to study both emic and etic dimensions of religious coping, the study also analyzes these responses within the framework of Pargament and colleagues’ (1998; 2000) religious coping constructs to determine responses that are consistent with findings across other cultures (etic) and to identify and describe responses that are culturally specific to Guatemala and Kenya (emic). Guatemalan and Kenyan themes consistent with North American literature were: Religious Helping, Seeking Spiritual Support, Benevolent Religious Reappraisal, Spiritual Connections and Collaborative Religious Coping. Themes unique to Guatemala and Kenya included Acceptance and Engagement of Suffering, Cosmic Balance, Living Better, Prayer, Human Responsibility, Communal Spiritual Traditions, and Finding Solidarity Through Shared Experience. Finally, this article examines emic and etic responses within the context of literature on African and Central American theologies.

Reports of Community Violence Exposure, Traumatic Loss, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Complicated Grief Among Guatemalan Aid Workers

This study explores exposure to community violence (CV) and traumatic loss and their relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and grief symptoms among Guatemalan aid workers. Out of 135 workers surveyed, 79% reported that someone close to them had died, and 33% reported a loss that was rated as traumatic. The average number of lifetime incidents of CV reported was 13, and the highest was 32. In all, 36% of the sample reported symptoms that meet criteria for PTSD.Those participants who reported a traumatic loss also reported significantly higher complicated grief (CG) scores, and those who reported a traumatic human-perpetrated loss also reported significantly higher levels of hyperarousal PTSD symptoms than those who reported a traumatic loss that was nonhuman perpetrated.

Race, resource utilisation, and perceived need among urban community development workers from faith-based organisations

Organisations providing social services in communities of high crime and violence must address staff well-being. The current study surveyed 284 urban community development workers from faith-based organisations in five US cities. The study explored the effects of race and ethnicity on service utilisation and perceived need using binomial logistic regression. Race and ethnicity significantly predicted medical service utilisation, indicating that Caucasian participants were five times more likely and African-American participants were 3.8 times more likely than Latino/a participants to utilise medical services. Race and ethnicity did not predict differences in use of psychological or spiritual services, nor of perceived need for services. Furthermore, volunteer staffs were approximately four times more likely than paid staff to report self-addressing their psychological and spiritual needs rather than utilising services, despite a felt need for support. Barriers to resource utilisation and implications for policies and practices of urban community development organisations are discussed.

Cultural Understandings of Child Sexual Abuse from Aid Workers and Parents at the Guatemala City Dump Community

This study documents Guatemalan aid workers’ and parents’ definitions of child sexual abuse (CSA), understandings of indicators and etiology of CSA, and training needs. Focus groups were conducted with aid workers and parents living in the Guatemala City dump. Conceptualizations of CSA included rape, contact molestation, and noncontact molestation. Aid workers and parents identified emotional and behavioral symptoms as indicators of CSA. Parents reported systemic understandings of CSA, such as poverty and the cycle of violence. Parents requested education on positive parenting; aid workers wanted training about working effectively with the legal system. Prevention and intervention implications are discussed.