Training under stress for aggression management in social work: a scoping review

Social workers often experience aggression in their work. To deal with
such stressful situations, training may be required. This scoping review
identifies possible training interventions for performing under stress in
social work. As we anticipated limited research on social work in
this regard, other related frontline professions were included in the
literature search. The search was conducted using the
interdisciplinary databases APA PsycInfo, Cinahl+, Medline, and Web of
Science, with no date restrictions. In total, eight papers were included
in the review, none of which examined social workers. Instead, all
identified studies were conducted in the context of police or armed
forces and reported significant effects on either reducing stress in high-
stress situations or adequately performing skills despite experiencing
stress. Only two studies tested and found significant effects on both
stress reduction and performance improvement. Overall, stress
management training and skills training under stress are effective in
learning to cope with stress or perform better despite experiencing
stress, respectively. Therefore, (more) realistic training under stressful
conditions may benefit social workers.