Data · dataset · 2026
Show no fear: an analysis of staff communication during conflict management in acute adult inpatient mental health settings
Listed in ZivaHub and Deakin Research Online and DMU Figshare — shown once because both records carry DOI 10.17034/32640162.v1
Background.
Description
Staff are instructed to use de-escalation techniques when responding to aggression. Training emphasises staff must control their emotional expressions, especially fear, yet little is known about how this is applied in practice during de-escalation.
Aims. This exploratory study aims to examine the impact of mental health staff's experience of workplace violence and their fear of future violence on nonverbal communication during de-escalation incidents. This study will focus exclusively on staffs’ hand movements and gestures. <br><br>Methods.
Read the rest (3 more)
Mixed method analysis of video recorded de-escalation interactions (n=37) and questionnaires measuring staffs’ experience of violence at work and fear of future violence (n=46). Results. Staffs’ experience of violence is associated with their fear of future violence (p<.001).
When de-escalating patients, staff most commonly displayed co-speech gestures, adaptor hand movements and emblem gestures. Less frequently observed behaviours included therapeutic touch. Quantitative analysis revealed no statistically significant relationships between staff’s fear of future violence and any hand movements during de-escalation.
However, therapeutic touch was exclusively displayed by staff with low levels of fear of future violence. Micro-analysis of communication during de-escalation incidents revealed staff with high fear react to a patient escalation, displaying emblems signalling ‘stop’, halting communication, whereas staff with low fear responded with continued co-speech gesture designed to facilitate communication. <br><br>Conclusions. Fear may hinder staff adherence to de-escalation training principles, potentially impacting their interactions with escalating patients.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2025.</i><br>
Links
Where it is published
- DOI doi.org/10.17034/32640162.v1 ↗
DOI / persistent id · from zivahub uct ac za
Catalogue records · 1
- OAI-PMH record api.figshare.com/v2/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai%3Af… ↗
metadata API · from zivahub uct ac za
Topics
Provenance · 3 source records, 15 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZivaHub | oai:figshare.com:article/32640162 | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Deakin Research Online | oai:figshare.com:article/32640162 | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| DMU Figshare | oai:figshare.com:article/32640162 | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].anzsrc:group:4205 | enrichment · zivahub uct ac za | taxonomy-embedding@1.1.0 | title+keywords+description (70%) |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:medicine-health | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:medicine-health | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:medicine-health | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:psychology-behavioral | mapping · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:psychology-behavioral | mapping · figshare dmu ac uk | connector:figshare_dmu_ac_uk@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:psychology-behavioral | mapping · dro deakin edu au | connector:dro_deakin_edu_au@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].local:modality:video | enrichment · zivahub uct ac za | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (75%) |
| description | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/description |
| license_text | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| publication_date | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · zivahub uct ac za | connector:zivahub_uct_ac_za@1.0.0 | /metadata/dc/title |