Nurse stress associated with aggression in people with dementia: its relationship to hardiness, cognitive appraisal and coping

This study examined the relationship between aggressive behaviour displayed by people with dementia and nurse stress. This was achieved by re-examining the relationships between the hardy personality (total hardiness), primary appraisal (challenge and threat appraisal), secondary appraisal (coping options available), and coping methods (action and palliative coping) from the perspective of nurse stress in response to aggressive behaviour displayed by people with dementia. One hundred and two nurses from 15 nursing homes and hostels were sampled by way of a questionnaire. Hierarchical regression was performed to analyse the strong hypothesized relationships between the variables examined. Results indicated that resident aggression was significantly related to an increase in nurse stress (M=34.79, SD=7.93). Of the variables examined, only threat appraisal was significantly related to nurse stress (beta[94]=0.48, P < 0.05). Perceiving the possibility of aggressive behaviour by the resident as threatening was found related to a high stress level in nurses sampled.