Butt Momina Khalid, Grigutytė Neringa, Eimontas Jonas
Department of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec;16(1):2543205. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2025.2543205. Epub 2025 Aug 20.
Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a significant concern among mental health professionals working with traumatised populations, such as war refugees. However, limited research has explored the predictors of STS in different cultural contexts, particularly in Pakistan and Lithuania. This study aimed to investigate the protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals working with war refugees in Pakistan and Lithuania. Specifically, the study examined the roles of social support, marital status, agreeableness, and negative emotionality in predicting STS. A total of 120 mental health professionals from Lithuania and 111 from Pakistan participated in this cross-cultural study. Participants completed an online survey assessing demographic variables, STS symptoms, and the predictors of interest. The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), Big Five Inventory (BFI-2), and a social support scale were used to assess STS, agreeableness, and social support, respectively. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and ANOVA. Significant differences were found in the prevalence of STS between the two countries, with 65.2% of Pakistani participants reporting STS symptoms compared to 20% in Lithuania. In Pakistan, social support, marital status, and agreeableness emerged as protective factors, while negative emotionality and divorced marital status were identified as risk factors. In contrast, in Lithuania, only social support was found to significantly predict STS, with negative emotionality serving as a risk factor. The findings underscore the importance of contextual factors in shaping the experience of STS among mental health professionals. While social support appears to act as a protective factor in both countries, other factors like marital status and personality traits (agreeableness) play varying roles depending on the cultural context. These insights provide valuable implications for developing targeted interventions to support mental health professionals working in refugee contexts, particularly in countries with differing socio-political landscapes.
继发性创伤应激（STS）是从事与受创伤人群（如战争难民）工作的心理健康专业人员所面临的一个重大问题。然而，有限的研究探讨了不同文化背景下STS的预测因素，特别是在巴基斯坦和立陶宛。本研究旨在调查在巴基斯坦和立陶宛从事战争难民工作的心理健康专业人员中STS的保护因素和风险因素。具体而言，该研究考察了社会支持、婚姻状况、宜人性和负面情绪在预测STS方面的作用。来自立陶宛的120名心理健康专业人员和来自巴基斯坦的111名心理健康专业人员参与了这项跨文化研究。参与者完成了一项在线调查，评估人口统计学变量、STS症状以及相关预测因素。继发性创伤应激量表（STSS）、大五人格量表（BFI - 2）和社会支持量表分别用于评估STS、宜人性和社会支持。数据采用描述性统计、回归分析和方差分析进行分析。两国在STS患病率上存在显著差异，65.2%的巴基斯坦参与者报告有STS症状，而立陶宛的这一比例为20%。在巴基斯坦，社会支持、婚姻状况和宜人性成为保护因素，而负面情绪和离婚婚姻状况被确定为风险因素。相比之下，在立陶宛，仅发现社会支持能显著预测STS，负面情绪是一个风险因素。研究结果强调了背景因素在塑造心理健康专业人员STS经历方面的重要性。虽然社会支持在两国似乎都起到保护因素的作用，但婚姻状况和人格特质（宜人性）等其他因素根据文化背景发挥着不同的作用。这些见解为制定有针对性的干预措施以支持在难民背景下工作的心理健康专业人员，特别是在社会政治环境不同的国家，提供了有价值的启示。
