Britirb Journal zyxwvutsr of Clinical Psychology zyxwvutsr (1998), zyxwvuts 31, 441-449 zyxwvut Q 1998 zyxwvutsrqpo The British Psychological Society Printed in Great Britain 441 z Learning disability care staffs emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviours : Development of a measurement tool Georgia Mitchell Sub-Department of Clinical Health zyxwvut Psychology, UniversiQ College London, UK Richard P. Hastings* Department of Psycbology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO 17 IBJ, UK Objectives. To describe the development of a rating scale measure of caregivers’ emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviour, and to report preliminary psychometric data for the scale. Design. Using previous research on staff working with people with learning disabilities, a range of likely emotional reactions to challenging behaviours were selected for possible inclusion in a rating scale measure. Methods. A total of 83 care staff from 23 community residences for people with learning disabilities rated their recent emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviour using 18 emotion items. A further sample of 18 care staff participated in a test-retest study after the initial stages of scale development. Results. A rating scale was developed on the basis of a factor analysis and further item analysis. The measure has two subscales: feelings of depression/anger (10 items), and feelings of fear/anxiety (5 items). The subscales have a high internal consistency, good test-retest reliability and are relatively unaffected by social desirability biases. Conclusions. The emotional reactions to aggressive challenging behaviour scale has excellent face and construct validity, and other preliminary psychometric data are promising. The scale has a number of potential research and clinical applications. Psychological models of challenging behaviours (e.g. aggression, self-injury, stereotypy and property destruction) emphasize their relationships to environmental events (Emerson, 1995). In particular, the actions of caregivers of people with learning disabilities have been shown to be crucial to an understanding of the development and maintenance of challenging behaviours (Hastings, 1997 ; Hastings, in press; Hastings & Remington, 1994a, zyxw 6). Two basic processes appear to be at * Requcsts for reprints and correspondence regarding thc scale.