A Relational Workforce Capacity Approach to Trauma-Informed Care Implementation: Staff Rejection Sensitivity as a Potential Barrier to Organizational Attachment

This study explores the relationship between staff rejection sensitivity (a psychological concept grounded in histories of loss and trauma) and organizational attachment among mental health agencies transitioning to Trauma-Informed Care (TIC), which is currently outside the focus of most research. Specifically, this study examines: (1) whether staff rejection sensitivity predicts organizational attachment; (2) whether staff turnover intentions account for the association between rejection sensitivity and organizational attachment; and (3) whether those associations hold once taking into account staff demographic factors (gender, race and ethnicity, education, and income)? Around 180 frontline workers in three Northeastern U.S. mental health agencies responded to surveys collected between 2016 and 2019 using the organizational attachment, rejection sensitivity and turnover intention measures, and their previous TIC training experience. Rejection sensitivity was significantly associated with organizational attachment (β = −0.39, p < 0.001), accounting for 6% of its variance in organizational attachment. The relationship between these variables retained significance, and staff education significantly predicted organizational attachment, with higher education predicting lower levels of organizational attachment (β = −0.15, p < 0.05), accounting for 22% of its variance. This study concludes that TIC transitioning mental health agencies’ staff with a higher rejection sensitivity are more likely to express lower organizational attachment and higher intent-to-turnover.