Rayner Samantha, Davis Cindy, Moore Matthew, Cadet Tamara
Health Soc Work. 2020 May 27;45(2):122-130. doi: 10.1093/hsw/hlaa001.
Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is an indirect form of trauma affecting the psychological well-being of mental health workers. This study examined STS and related factors of empathetic behavior and trauma caseload among a purposive sample of 190 social workers and psychologists. Participants completed an online questionnaire comprising demographics, the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, and the Empathy Scale for Social Workers. A moderated moderation model was used to evaluate the hypothesized relationship between the amount of trauma in clinician caseload and STS, as moderated by empathy and personal trauma history. Approximately 30 percent of participants met the criteria for a diagnosis of STS. Results indicated that although caseload trauma was not an independent predictor of STS, there was a significant interaction between caseload trauma and personal trauma history on STS. Similarly, empathy alone was not directly related to changes in STS, yet the trauma in caseload effect on STS was moderated by empathy, and that relationship was moderated by personal trauma history. This overall effect was shown to significantly predict STS. The current study highlights the importance of developing evidence-based risk strategies for mental health workers working in the area of trauma and at risk of developing symptoms of STS.
继发性创伤应激（STS）是一种影响心理健康工作者心理健康的间接创伤形式。本研究在190名社会工作者和心理学家的目标样本中，考察了继发性创伤应激以及共情行为和创伤案例量的相关因素。参与者完成了一份在线问卷，内容包括人口统计学信息、继发性创伤应激量表和社会工作者共情量表。采用有调节的中介模型来评估临床医生案例量中的创伤量与继发性创伤应激之间的假设关系，该关系由共情和个人创伤史调节。约30%的参与者符合继发性创伤应激诊断标准。结果表明，虽然案例量创伤不是继发性创伤应激的独立预测因素，但案例量创伤与个人创伤史在继发性创伤应激上存在显著交互作用。同样，单独的共情与继发性创伤应激的变化没有直接关系，但案例量中的创伤对继发性创伤应激的影响由共情调节，且该关系由个人创伤史调节。这一总体效应被证明能显著预测继发性创伤应激。当前研究强调了为在创伤领域工作且有患继发性创伤应激症状风险的心理健康工作者制定循证风险策略的重要性。
