While there is extensive literature on the strengths of different supervisory models, we have limited understanding of how the relational capacity of front-line staff may impact how they receive and seek feedback from their supervisor. This study examines how mental health providers’ and front-line staff’s own rejection sensitivity may be associated with the supervisory relationship and the ways in which job feedback is sought and received in community-based mental health settings. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 156 front-line staff of three mental health agencies. Staff were administered an original survey using validated measures related to supervision, feedback, and relational capacities. We found staff with a higher rejection sensitivity (RS) were less likely to actively seek feedback about their performance; and, when feedback was received, were more likely to rate its quality as poor. Staff with a higher RS were more likely to perceive their supervisor and their relationship negatively. This is the first study to examine whether workers’ relational capacities, as expressed through a higher RS, influence their perceptions of supervision and quality of feedback and their feedback-seeking behaviors. These findings build theory related to the important role that staff relational capacities play in influencing organizational dynamics and support.

Despite practice models of trauma-informed care (TIC) emphasizing relational engagement and emotional attunement as critical to service delivery, the role of individual dispositions in shaping staff perceptions and behavior remains underexplored. This study examined how rejection sensitivity, a construct grounded in attachment theory, defined as a dispositional tendency to anxiously expect and overreact to perceived rejection, may influence staff perceptions of their roles and client relationships in residential mental health agencies implementing TIC. We further explored whether individual and organizational factors, including job satisfaction, prior trauma training, perceived isolation at work, and trauma-related knowledge, contribute to these associations. Regression analyses were conducted on survey data from 155 frontline staff across three agencies testing the associations between rejection sensitivity and two relational outcomes: perceptions of work and of clients. Higher rejection sensitivity was significantly associated with more disengaged perceptions of work and less empathic views of clients, even after controlling for demographic and contextual organizational variables. Job satisfaction and trauma knowledge emerged as domain-specific protective factors, reducing the negative impact of rejection sensitivity. The findings underscore the importance of addressing staff relational dispositions to sustain effective TIC implementation. Enhancing job satisfaction and trauma knowledge may help support staff engagement in trauma-informed practice.