Title: Relationships between stress, social support and transactive memory among humanitarian aid workers

Authors: Célia Blanchet; Estelle Michinov

Addresses: Department of Psychology, CRPCC (E.A. 1285), University of Rennes 2, Place du recteur Henri Le Moal, CS 24307, 35043 Rennes cedex, France ' Department of Psychology, CRPCC (E.A. 1285), University of Rennes 2, Place du recteur Henri Le Moal, CS 24307, 35043 Rennes cedex, France

Abstract: This study examines coordination processes (transactive memory) among humanitarian aid workers, and the relationships between stress, social support and transactive memory. Sixty humanitarian aid workers from non-governmental organisations completed a questionnaire. The measures included scales of transactive memory, perceived stress, compassion fatigue and social support. Data from partial least squares (PLS) showed that transactive memory is not structured identically among stable teams and humanitarian aid teams: transactive memory is essentially based on tacit coordination processes among humanitarian aid workers. The results showed that stress was negatively related to transactive memory and that social support was positively related to it. Moreover, social support was not a moderator of the relationship between stress and transactive memory. This study highlights the need to develop programmes to prepare humanitarian aid workers for the management of emergency situations and to protect them from stress.

Keywords: emergency management; humanitarian aid workers; social support; team coordination; transactive memory; non-governmental organisations; NGOs; perceived stress; compassion fatigue; partial least squares; PLS; aid teams; tacit coordination.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2014.066484

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2014 Vol.10 No.3/4, pp.259 - 275

Received: 13 Nov 2013
Accepted: 26 Jun 2014
Published online: 03 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article