Stress and resilience in professionals of basic health units in the context of child abuse

Abstract

Child abuse is a challenge for Primary Health Care professionals from perception to management, requiring their direct action and exposing them to critical emotional burdens. The objective was to identify factors of resilience and occupational stress and aspects involved in the management of cases of child abuse. Cross-sectional quantitative exploratory study carried out in a city in greater São Paulo with 119 Primary Health Care professionals working in direct care for families through the application of the identification questionnaire on child violence by Basic Health Units professionals, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale for Brasil-25BRASIL and Lipp's Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults. The results demonstrated the prevalence of feelings and emotions, an inversely proportional relationship between resilience and stress factors, aggravated by a personal history of child abuse. It is concluded that the development of resilience is essential for reducing the harmful factors of occupational stress and developing strategies for welcoming and caring for these professionals.