Resilience in animal care professions: does the stress shield model fit?

Animal care professionals can experience adverse psychological outcomes due to their work, therefore research exploring supporting resilience in this population is needed. This study investigated the capacity of the Stress Shield Model (SSM) to explain relationships between individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors with outcomes in resilience (resilience, growth, and job satisfaction) in animal care professionals. Empowerment was hypothesised to mediate these relationships. Australian and New Zealand animal care professionals (N = 393) completed an online survey measuring conscientiousness, coping, team and leader relationships, job demands, organisational resources, empowerment, growth, resilience, and job satisfaction. Results indicated that SSM can partially explain relationships between individual, interpersonal, and organisational factors and outcomes in resilience, and empowerment partially mediated the effect of organisational resources on growth. Problem-approach coping positively predicted resilience and growth; conversely, emotion-avoidant coping negatively predicted these outcomes. Conscientiousness positively predicted resilience and negatively predicted job satisfaction. Team relationships positively predicted growth and resilience, while leader-member relationships positively predicted job satisfaction. Organisational resources positively predicted resilience, growth, and job satisfaction, conversely, job demands predicted reductions across these outcomes. Findings indicate supporting resilience in animal care professionals requires fostering individual, interpersonal, and organisational resources.