Staff Rejection Sensitivity and Perceptions of the Work Place: Implications for Effective Trauma-Informed Practice

Background: The effective implementation of models of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) requires workforce alignment with relational and client-centered practices. While prior research (Hardan et al., 2023) has used attachment theory informed constructs to examine how staff sensitivity to the prospect of rejection in social relationships predicts organizational attachment, the present study shifts focus toward workplace attitudes that may directly shape staff-client relationships. Drawing from the ARTIC scale, a SAMHSA prioritized index originally designed to measure general attitudes toward trauma-informed practice, we derived a distinct construct reflecting staff perceptions of their workplace. As scores increase, staff shift from disengaged, rigid, and emotionally withdrawn attitudes toward work to perspectives that are more connected, open, and relationally responsive.

Rejection sensitivity is hypothesized to negatively predict staff perceptions of their work, potentially undermining alignment with trauma-informed principles. Furthermore, this study explores potential moderating effects, including attachment security, prior trauma training, and contextual organizational variables.

Methods: This study carried out a secondary data analysis using data on 155 staff participants drawn from across three mental health agencies in the north eastern United States, implementing the Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) model.

Based on item-level data from the ARTIC scale, a new composite outcome variable was developed: perceptions of work, which had strong psychometric properties and cohesive clustering of items following review by clinicians. Rejection Sensitivity was measured using the Adult Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (A-RSQ). Drawing conceptually from Thornton et al. (2024), isolated practice was introduced as a new covariate to reflect staff’s perceived sense of isolation in the workplace. Additional covariates included attachment style, prior trauma training, violence and trauma knowledge, and job satisfaction. OLS regression models were used to examine the direct and interactive effects of rejection sensitivity on perceptions of work, with models progressively controlling for gender, race, education, and income.

Findings: Rejection sensitivity was a significant negative predictor of perceptions of work (β = -3.51, p < .001), accounting by itself for 11% of the variance in perceptions of work. Subsequent models incrementally introduced psychosocial and demographic covariates and controls. Secure attachment and most demographic factors (education, sex, race) were not significantly predictive of workplace perceptions. In the final model, rejection sensitivity remained a significant (β = -2.32, p < .01) predictor of more negative workplace perceptions, and job satisfaction was associated with more positive perceptions ((β = 6.23, p < .001), contributing to a final model explaining 24% of the variance in staff perceptions of work. Across all models, rejection sensitivity remained a robust predictor.

Implications: Findings highlight the importance of addressing relational dynamics in TIC implementation efforts. Staff with higher rejection sensitivity may interpret workplace challenges more negatively, potentially undermining engagement with TIC principles. Job satisfaction emerged as a protective factor, suggesting that agency investment in supportive supervision and organizational climate may buffer the impact of relational vulnerabilities. In mental health agency settings where emotional labor is high and outcomes are often uncertain, attending to staff relational histories and workplace experiences is critical for sustaining trauma-informed practice.