The Florence Nightingale Effect: Organizational Identification Explains the Peculiar Link Between Others' Suffering and Workplace Functioning in the Homelessness Sector

Frontline employees in the helping professions often perform their duties against a difficult backdrop, including a complex client base and ongoing themes of crisis, suffering, and distress. These factors combine to create an environment in which workers are vulnerable to workplace stress and burnout. 

The present study tested two models to understand how frontline workers in the homelessness sector deal with the suffering of their clients. First, we examined whether relationships between suffering and workplace functioning (job satisfaction and burnout) would be mediated by organizational identification. Second, we examined whether emotional distance from clients (i.e., infrahumanization, measured as reduced attribution of secondary emotions) would predict improved workplace functioning (less burnout and greater job satisfaction), particularly when client contact is high. 

The study involved a mixed-methods design comprising interview (N = 26) and cross-sectional survey data (N = 60) with a sample of frontline staff working in the homelessness sector. Participants were asked to rate the level of client suffering and attribute emotions in a hypothetical client task, and to complete questionnaire measures of burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational identification. 

We found no relationships between secondary emotion attribution and burnout or satisfaction. Instead, we found that perceiving higher client suffering was linked with higher job satisfaction and lower burnout. Mediation analyses revealed a mediating role for identification, such that recognizing suffering predicted greater identification with the organization, which fully mediated the relationship between suffering and job satisfaction, and also between suffering and burnout. Qualitative analysis of interview data also resonated with this conceptualization. We introduce this novel finding as the 'Florence Nightingale effect'. 

With this sample drawn from the homelessness sector, we provide preliminary evidence for the proposition that recognizing others' suffering may serve to increase job satisfaction and reduce burnout - by galvanizing organizational identification.

Below: Case history vignettes describing two hypothetical clients experiencing homelessness, ‘Warren’ and ‘Denise’. ‘Centrelink’ and ‘Newstart’ are terms specific to the Australian national welfare system.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/Z4l2xH

By:  Ferris LJ1, Jetten J1, Johnstone M1, Girdham E1, Parsell C2, Walter ZC1.

• 1School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD, Australia.
• 2Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD, Australia. 
• Front Psychol. 2016 Jan 28;7:16. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00016. eCollection 2016.

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Loss of Meaning as a Predictor of Distress in Prison

Incarceration has been described as a distressing experience, marked by important losses and accompanied by deep existential crises. Some prisoners "hit rock bottom" and are confronted with the fact that their life does not make sense anymore. Surprisingly, loss of meaning among prisoners has not been studied in a quantitative way before. 

In this study, we explored the relationship between loss of meaning inflicted by incarceration and distress. In a sample of 365 prisoners, univariate analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses confirmed that a loss of meaning positively predicted distress in prison. 

Differences between prison regimes predicted distress, but had no influence on the loss of meaning. Unsentenced incarceration, in contrast, did not have a direct relationship to distress, but amplified the effect of loss of meaning on distress. Psychotherapy and chaplain support did not affect the relationship between loss of meaning and distress during incarceration.

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By:   Vanhooren S1, Leijssen M2, Dezutter J2.

• 1University of Leuven, Belgium siebrechtvanhooren@gmail.com.
• 2University of Leuven, Belgium. 

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Affective Self-Regulation Trajectories During Secondary School Predict Substance Use among Urban Minority Young Adults

This study explored the relationship between trajectories of affective self-regulation skills during secondary school and young adult substance use in a large multi-ethnic, urban sample (N = 995). During secondary school, participants completed a measure of cognitive and behavioral skills used to control negative, unpleasant emotions or perceived stress. As young adults, participants reported on the frequency and quantity of their alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use in a telephone interview. Controlling for demographic variables, self-regulation did not significantly change over adolescence, although there was significant variation in participants' rates of growth and decline. Lower seventh grade self-regulation and less steep increases in self-regulation were predictive of higher young adult substance use. Male participants had significantly lower initial self-regulation and higher young adult substance use. The results suggest that interventions that build affective self-regulation skills in adolescence may decrease the risk of young adult substance use.

Alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use have been associated with a host of negative social and health risk behaviors in adolescence and emerging adulthood, including poor academic and vocational performance, relationship difficulties, risky sexual behavior, aggressive and violent behavior, the abuse of illicit and prescription drugs, and other physical and mental health problems (e.g., Dogan et al., 2010; Griffin et al., 2010; Hermos et al., 2008; Newcomb et al., 1993; Perkins, 2002; Schulenberg et al., 2005). These findings have broad implications for young people and suggest that substance use and abuse may decrease the likelihood of a healthy and successful developmental transition into young adulthood. In order to develop effective prevention and intervention programs that promote healthy development, it is important for researchers to identify key psychosocial risk and protective factors during adolescence that are associated with substance use and related problem outcomes during emerging adulthood.

One of the most popular conceptual models of substance use etiology, both from a scientific and lay perspective, is that individuals use or abuse alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs in order to regulate negative affective responses (e.g., distress, stress, or anxiety) that they experience due to exposure to unpleasant or threatening stimuli. This notion has been operationalized in models that emphasize substance use as a way to cope with or reduce anxiety or stress (Kushnera et al., 2000; Vaccaro & Wills, 1998; Wagner et al., 1999) or a way to self-medicate a variety of negative affective states (e.g., Khantzian, 1997; Weiss & Mirin, 1987). There has been significant support for these conceptual models in numerous studies and multiple populations. Studies have shown that youth who struggle with psychological distress, anxiety, perceived powerlessness, meaninglessness or other negative emotions engage in more licit and illicit drug use (Crutchfield & Gove, 1984; Labouvie, 1986; Labouvie et al., 1990; Mainous et al., 1996). In a study of adolescents aged 12 to 17 who participated in the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, findings indicated that adolescents with serious emotional problems were twice as likely to use marijuana and four times as likely to use other illicit drugs compared to youth with low levels of emotional problems (Department of Health & Human Services, 1999).

Given the existing empirical support for the self-medication and coping models of substance use and abuse, a corollary hypothesis is that individuals who are able to regulate their affective responses in adaptive ways will be less likely to use alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs. Of particular interest is whether such affective self-regulation skills during adolescence serve as a protective factor for substance use during the early twenties – the years when the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs typically peak in prevalence (Griffin, 2010). Scholars have focused increasingly on protective factors during the years of emerging adulthood (between ages 18 and 25). This period of life is characterized as a period of instability, exploration, and increasing responsibility (Arnett, 2000). Research has demonstrated that among college undergraduates, poor emotional self-regulation was associated with greater participation in risky behaviors such as cigarette smoking and alcohol-induced verbal and physical aggression (Magar et al., 2008). However, no study to our knowledge has assessed whether trajectories of affective self-regulation over the course of the secondary school years prospectively predict young adult substance use...

Below:  Affective Self-Regulation Skills During Adolescence and Young Adult Substance Use

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/BEpwrN

By:  Griffin KW1, Lowe SR2, Acevedo BP1, Botvin GJ1.

• 1Weill Cornell Medical College, Department of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
• 2Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, New York, NY, USA. 

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Trauma Symptoms, Internalized Stigma, Social Support & Sexual Risk Behavior among HIV-Positive Gay & Bisexual MSM Who Have Sought Sex Partners Online

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the highest risk group for HIV infection. One reason is the increased use of the Internet to meet potential sex partners, which is associated with greater sexual risk behavior. To date, few studies have investigated psychosocial predictors of sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual men seeking sex partners online. 

The purpose of the current study was to test a conceptual model of the relationships between trauma symptoms indexed on the event of HIV diagnosis, internalized HIV stigma, and social support on sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual MSM who seek sex partners online. 

A sample of 142 gay and bisexual MSM recruited on- and offline completed a comprehensive online assessment battery assessing the factors noted above. 

A number of associations emerged; most notably internalized HIV stigma mediated the relationship between trauma-related symptoms indexed on the event of HIV diagnosis and sexual risk behavior with HIV-negative and unknown serostatus sex partners. 

This suggests that gay and bisexual MSM who are in greater distress over their HIV diagnosis and who are more sensitive to HIV stigma engage in more HIV transmission risk behavior. As sexual risk environments expand with the increasing use of the Internet to connect with others for sex, it is important to understand the predictors of sexual risk behavior so that tailored interventions can promote sexual health for gay and bisexual MSM seeking sex online.

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By: Burnham KE1, Cruess DG1, Kalichman MO1, Grebler T1, Cherry C1, Kalichman SC1.

• 1a Department of Psychology , University of Connecticut , Storrs , CT , USA.  

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Psychological Distress among Victimized Women on Probation and Parole: A Latent Class Analysis

Below:  Standardized mean scores of three subgroups of victimized women on probation and parole across nine latent class indicator variables

Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of victimized women (N=406) on probation and parole differentiated by levels of general psychological distress. The nine primary symptom dimensions from the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) were used individually as latent class indicators (Derogatis, 1993). Results identified three classes of women characterized by increasing levels of psychological distress; classes were further differentiated by posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, cumulative victimization, substance use and other domains of psychosocial functioning (i.e., sociodemographic characteristics; informal social support and formal service utilization; perceived life stress; and resource loss). The present research was effective in uncovering important heterogeneity in psychological distress using a highly reliable and easily accessible measure of general psychological distress. Differentiating levels of psychological distress and associated patterns of psychosocial risk can be used to develop intervention strategies targeting the needs of different subgroups of women. Implications for treatment and future research are presented.

Women are among the fastest growing segment of the correctional population. At present, over 200,000 women are incarcerated and more than 1 million women are on probation (Ajinkya, 2012). Approximately one out of every 89 women in the U.S. is involved in the criminal justice system and over 85% are sanctioned within the community...

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