Purpose

While a return to work following trauma exposure can be therapeutic, this is not always so. As with many topics related to traumatic stress in organizations, several contingency factors complicate the effort to draw an overarching conclusion about whether returning to work is therapeutic. The purpose of this paper is to present important determinants of whether work is therapeutic or triggering for those with traumatic stress conditions. The need for contingency approaches in the study of traumatic stress in organizations is illustrated.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature on traumatic stress in organizations is reviewed.

Findings

Three of the key determinants of whether a return to work is therapeutic or triggering for traumatic stress sufferers are trauma-type contingencies, condition-type contingencies and work-setting contingencies. For instance, human-caused and task-related traumas are more likely than natural disasters to make a return-to-work triggering. Additionally, the time since developing a traumatic stress condition is inversely related to the degree of improvement in that condition through the experience of working. Moreover, managerial actions can affect how therapeutic an employee’s return to work is.

Practical implications

These findings suggest the challenges of reintegrating a traumatized employee to the workplace can be highly situation-specific. Careful consideration of the traumatic event suffered by each traumatic stress victim, their traumatic stress condition, and the work setting to which they would return are recommended.

Social implications

Promoting mental health in organizations can contribute to employers’ social performance.

Originality/value

Examination of the factors that complicate predicting whether work is therapeutic posttrauma demonstrates how contingency approaches can advance research on trauma in organizations.

中文翻译：

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创伤性压力患者：作为治疗还是触发？

目的

虽然在遭受创伤后重返工作岗位可能具有治疗作用，但并非总是如此。与组织中与创伤性压力相关的许多主题一样，一些偶然因素使得出关于重返工作是否具有治疗作用的总体结论的努力变得复杂。本文的目的是提出重要的决定因素，即工作对那些有创伤性压力状况的人来说是治疗性的还是触发性的。说明了在组织中的创伤压力研究中需要采用应急方法。

设计/方法/方法

回顾了有关组织创伤性压力的文献。

发现

对于创伤性压力患者而言，重返工作是治疗性的还是触发性的三个关键决定因素是创伤类型的突发事件、条件类型的突发事件和工作环境的突发事件。例如，人为和与任务相关的创伤比自然灾害更有可能触发重返工作岗位。此外，自出现创伤性压力状况以来的时间与通过工作经验改善该状况的程度成反比。此外，管理行为会影响员工重返工作岗位的治疗效果。

实际影响

这些发现表明，让受创伤的员工重新融入工作场所的挑战可能因具体情况而异。建议仔细考虑每个创伤性压力受害者所遭受的创伤性事件、他们的创伤性压力状况以及他们将返回的工作环境。

社会影响

在组织中促进心理健康可以为雇主的社会绩效做出贡献。

原创性/价值

检查使预测工作是否是治疗性创伤后复杂化的因素表明应急方法如何促进组织中的创伤研究。