Trouble de stress post-traumatique chez des travailleurs humanitaires de retour de mission : vers une meilleure identification des facteurs de risque et de protection
Humanitarian aid workers (HAW) are defined as the personnel of non-profit aid agencies that provide material and technical assistance in humanitarian relief contexts. Literature suggests that HAW are repeatedly exposed to various sources of stress, including potentially traumatic events (PTE). As a result, they are at high risk of developing mental health problems, including elevated risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The aim of the current thesis project is to expand our current knowledge on the different sources of stress encountered during a humanitarian mission and on the predictors of PTSD within an application of the diathesis-stress model to traumatic stress in a sample of 248 expatriate HAW back from a mission for less than a year. A first study focuses on the development and validation of a self-administered questionnaire measuring the level of chronic stress experienced by the HAW during a humanitarian mission. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to explore the underlying structure of the 22-item scale and results supported a two-factor structure, corresponding to operational and organizational stress, as proposed in the literature. The psychometrics properties of the scale were analyzed and the findings indicated the CSQ-HAW was a reliable and valid measure of chronic stress encountered by HAW while on the field. The CSQ-HAW significantly correlated with general stress and both posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms. In addition to identifying the most frequent sources of stress and quantifying the degree of stress associated with each stressor, this new instrument may serve as a meaningful tool in screening and preventing psychological distress in HAW. A second study intend to expand the current knowledge on predictors of PTSD within an application of diathesis-stress model to traumatic stress in a sample of 248 expatriate HAW back from a mission for less than a year. More specifically, this study aims to determine the prevalence rate of PTSD and examine the predictive relationship of exposure to PTE, chronic stress, dissociation, Type D personality, social and organizational support on PTSD symptomatology among expatriate HAW. In our sample, 15.8% of HAW reported levels of PTSD symptoms indicative of a PTSD diagnosis. The proposed model accounted for a large portion of the variance (45.0%) in PTSD symptomatology scores. Chronic stress accounted for the largest proportion of PTSD unique variance, followed by dissociation, indirect and indirect exposure to PTEs, and finally social and organizational support. One significant interaction effect was detected between sex and direct exposure to PTEs. Results will be shared with NGO in order to provide them with potential ways to develop specific interventions suitable for their workers.
Stress Validation Humanitarian Aid Workers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Stress Etiology Risk factors Gender differences Hierarchical regression Scale construction Factor Analysis