Predicting boundary violation propensity among mental health professionals

Dickeson, Edward; Roberts, Rachel; Smout, Matthew

doi:10.1002/cpp.2465

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Papers selected for inclusion were published between 2013 and 2021 (see Table 3). The majority were completed in the United States, however, Australia (Dickeson et al, 2020), Germany (Clemens et al, 2021), and the United Kingdom (Ford et al, 2021) were represented.…”

Section: Characteristics Of Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Completion rate in the studies ranged from 5% (Dickeson et al, 2020) to 95.97% (Howard et al, 2017).…”

Section: Acesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Where ranges were reported, staff endorsed ACEs in the range from none, to four or more (Howard et al, 2015(Howard et al, , 2017Lee et al, 2017), and up to nine ACEs (Dickeson et al, 2020;Esaki & Larkin, 2013;Keesler, 2018;La Mott & Martin, 2019;Stork et al, 2020).…”

Section: Prevalence Of Adverse Childhood Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with personal and professional factors in health and social care workers: A systematic review.

Mercer¹,

Cookson²,

Simpson-Adkins³

et al. 2023

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

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Objective: To systematically review papers reporting the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in health and social care workers, as well as any personal or professional factors they were associated with. Method: CINAHL, EMCARE, PsychInfo, and Medline were searched to find studies utilizing the ACE questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998) in health and social care worker populations. Results: The initial search returned 1,764 papers, with 17 studies meeting the inclusion criteria to be in the review. Conclusions: ACEs among health and social care workers were frequently reported and occurred more often than in the general population. They were also associated with several personal and professional outcomes, including poor physical and mental health, and workplace stress. Understanding staff ACE characteristics can help organizations to consider ways to support staff, which may be individual or systemic. Trauma-responsive systems may be a possible answer among organizations to improve staff well-being, quality of service, and better outcomes for service users. Clinical Impact StatementGiven that the experience of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can increase vulnerability to stressors for staff, organizational pressures have the potential to become risk factors for burnout, stress, and emotional exhaustion. Understanding the prevalence of ACEs among health and social care workers, as well as the potential long-standing impact on staff both personally and professionally, can help organizations plan and deliver interventions for staff and develop services and systems that are trauma-responsive (Esaki, 2020). This has the potential to reduce absenteeism and turnover of staff, as well as improve the quality of services in health and social care.

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Section: Characteristics Of Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Completion rate in the studies ranged from 5% (Dickeson et al, 2020) to 95.97% (Howard et al, 2017).…”

Section: Acesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with personal and professional factors in health and social care workers: A systematic review.

Mercer¹,

Cookson²,

Simpson-Adkins³

et al. 2023

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The Dutch Healthcare Inspectorate has, for instance, developed a brochure that advises healthcare organizations to develop SBV guidelines as part of a professionals’ employment contract [ 33 ]. Research into SBV has identified the psychological aspects of individual healthcare professionals that may lead to SBV [e.g., 34 ] and emphasis has been placed on individual responsibility to prevent SBV rather than on organizational responsibility [ 21 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Normalizing conversations among professionals about sexuality and acknowledging inappropriate sexual feelings may prevent boundary violations, yet these conversations are challenging. A high prevalence of sexual and romantic attraction between professionals and clients has been reported, particularly in mental healthcare [ 2 , 34 , 43 ]. Talking about these sexual feelings and desires can help professionals to recognize and handle these feelings, but sexual desire and attraction to clients remains a taboo subject [ 44 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining rules and dialogue: exploring stakeholder perspectives on preventing sexual boundary violations in mental health and disability care organizations

et al. 2022

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Background Sexual boundary violations (SBV) in healthcare are harmful and exploitative sexual transgressions in the professional–client relationship. Persons with mental health issues or intellectual disabilities, especially those living in residential settings, are especially vulnerable to SBV because they often receive long-term intimate care. Promoting good sexual health and preventing SBV in these care contexts is a moral and practical challenge for healthcare organizations. Methods We carried out a qualitative interview study with 16 Dutch policy advisors, regulators, healthcare professionals and other relevant experts to explore their perspectives on preventing SBV in mental health and disability care organizations. We used inductive thematic analysis to interpret our data. Results We found three main themes on how healthcare organizations can prevent SBV in mental health and disability care: (1) setting rules and regulations, (2) engaging in dialogue about sexuality, and (3) addressing systemic and organizational dimensions. Conclusion Our findings suggest that preventing SBV in mental health and disability care organizations necessitates setting suitable rules and regulations and facilitating dialogue about positive aspects of sexuality and intimacy, as well as about boundaries, and inappropriate behaviors or feelings. Combining both further requires organizational policies and practices that promote transparency and reflection, and focus on creating a safe environment. Our findings will help prevent SBV and promote sexual health in mental health and disability care organizations.

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