Fascinating article on Resilience in Humanitarian Aid Workers from London South Bank University

Resilience is a psychological term used to describe the interrelationship between specific factors known to promote wellbeing and strength in individuals who are undergoing unusually stressful life conditions (Luthar, 2003). Variation in the way different people respond to all kinds of sources of stress can be ascribed to a) genetically inherited factors; b) previous childhood experiences shaping future behaviours; and c) other protective features. The present research study explored the interrelationship of specific protective factors related to the development of resilience, namely the social context surrounding the individual at the time of the traumatic event, his/her cognitive skills, and other biological and socio-demographic features. An excerpt from a summary of the findings appears below:

Low levels of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and burnout were found, and many participants were willing to go back to the field despite the difficulties encountered during deployment. Stress factors were mainly linked to the external environment (e.g. being in another country, work load, the nature of the assignment, external dangers), the organisation and its personnel, and participants’ negative perceptions and affects (e.g. psychological problems previous to field deployment).
As a result of their mission, female participants were more likely to experience positive changes in family relations than males, whereas male participants were more likely to experience negative changes in the way they perceived their future than their female counterparts. As far as age was concerned, younger participants were more likely to be physically healthier than older ones, but also experienced more mental burnout. Finally, a higher number of past missions was related to positive changes in the development of resilience.

Job satisfaction was described as a key component in motivating participants to perform their daily tasks with courage and strength, but also seemed to drive them towards the limits of physical and emotional exhaustion. Positive coping techniques such as active coping, reflection before engagement, accepting difficult situations, and maintaining low expectations, were key factors that allowed participants to develop more resilience. A significant number of participants, however, reported a good number of dysfunctional coping techniques, such as using alcohol and recreational drugs, which can be interpreted as self-destructive behaviours.

A summary of the research is available to download from Reliefweb.