A model of hope as a protective measure to lower burnout and secondary traumatic stress among employees working in developmental and intellectual disabilities services.

BACKGROUND: Burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) are problems for the workforce supporting people with developmental disabilities. This study investigated hope as a potential protective resource for burnout and STS among the developmental disability services workforce. METHOD: One hundred and fifty-two non-supervisor caseworkers from a state agency, developmental disabilities division were recruited to participate in an anonymous web-based survey. RESULTS: The analyses showed that hope was negatively associated with the three dimensions of STS (intrusion, avoidance, and arousal) and burnout. Controlling for tenure in the workforce and STS, the results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that hope accounted for a significant incremental variance to burnout. CONCLUSION: These findings provide support for emerging literature showing hope as a protective resource to workforce burnout.

Hope As a Buffer to Suicide Attempts Among Adolescents with Depression.

BACKGROUND: Suicide among adolescents has long been linked to symptoms of depression. However, limited research has examined the potential buffering effect of hope on the relationship between depression and suicide attempts. METHODS: To test the effect of hope on the positive relationship between depression and suicide attempts, we used data (N = 502 adolescents) from youth ages 12-18 collected as part of the 2018 Healthy Youth Survey in the State of Washington. Based on hope theory, we hypothesized a "buffering" form of moderation, with the presence of greater hope weakening the positive relationship between depression and suicide attempts. In other words, with higher hope, adolescents reporting depressive symptoms are less inclined to attempt suicide. RESULTS: Testing the moderating effect of hope via bootstrap resampling (N = 5000), the results indicated adolescents' hope levels indeed buffered the relationship between depressive symptoms and self-reported suicide attempts. To wit, when adolescents' hope was low, there was a significant, robust, and positive relationship between depressive symptoms and suicide attempts (b = 0.2644, 95% CI [0.1604, 0.3683], t = 5.0, p < .001). However, when adolescents' hope was high, there was no longer a significant relationship between depressive symptoms and suicide attempts (b = 0.0304, 95% CI [-0.997, 0.1605], t = 0.4590, p = .65). CONCLUSION: The buffering effect of hope was validated in a second, larger sample (n = 9308) of adolescents. This result suggests the potential utility of hope theory-based interventions to assist depressed adolescents reduce their likelihood of suicide.