dc.description.abstract | This study focused on humanitarian workers in South Sudan and the interrelation of mental
health, gender, and organizational staff support. Based on the propositions of Job Demands-
Resources (JDR) theory, I applied mixed methods research in three research phases
to 1) investigate prevalence and predictors of common mental health problems among
national and international humanitarian workers; 2) examine international humanitarian
workers’ lived experiences, particularly with respect to gender; and 3) crystallize implications
of these findings for humanitarian stakeholders, particularly with respect to organizational
staff support.
The survey phase estimated prevalence rates of post-traumatic stress disorder
(24%), depression (39%), anxiety disorder (38%), hazardous alcohol consumption in men
(35%) and women (36%), and the burnout components emotional exhaustion (24%) and
depersonalization (19%). Chronic stress was most consistently associated with mental
health problems. Dysfunctional coping predicted mental health problems among humanitarian
workers, but emotion-focused and problem-focused coping were neither protective
nor predictive of the outcomes studied. Surprisingly, gender was significantly associated
with anxiety only, with women being more likely to experience symptoms associated
with anxiety diagnosis. However, the focused qualitative phase indicated that gender substantially
influenced international humanitarian workers’ lived experiences. Men perceived
Juba as a convenient duty station. Women experienced a feeling of loneliness on
site, and considered it challenging to combine their profession with family life. There was
a gap between international humanitarian workers’ needs for psychosocial support, and
the attention paid to these needs by themselves and their organizations. The evaluation
phase showed that organizational staff support provided by NGOs was insufficient to
address employees’ needs. As expected, national staff had less access to services than
international staff, and organizations neglected gender in their staff support programs.
This study provides tailored recommendations to address the identified challenges
and gaps in staff support. It demonstrates that a more nuanced version of JDR theory is
required to be applicable to humanitarian settings. | en |