This systematic literature review examines the relationship between secondary traumatic stress (STS) and compassion satisfaction (CS) to identify the state of the science and directions for future research. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis framework was used to guide the identification and evaluation of studies. Eight academic databases were systematically searched between July and December of 2022 to identify articles and dissertations published in English or Hebrew between 2000 and 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study examined whether secondary traumatic stress (STS), defined by the expanded depiction of traumatic stress which includes negative mood/cognition symptoms, fully captures the reactions of indirect trauma exposure or if vicarious traumatization (VT) is still a useful and separate construct to assess for.
Method: An online survey was completed by 613 professionals working with individuals who experienced trauma. Correlations and network analysis were used to explore the overlap and distinctiveness of STS and VT reactions.
Individuals who are trafficked for sex have high rates of trauma exposure prior to and while being trafficked; therefore, professionals who work with this population are potentially exposed to high levels of trauma details increasing their risk of developing secondary traumatic stress (STS). This study investigated the STS symptoms of professionals working with survivors of sex trafficking utilizing a socioecological framework to guide the design and analysis. An online survey was completed by 583 respondents from a broad range of organizational settings who completed measures tapping into STS symptoms, lifetime trauma exposures, history of being sex-trafficked, dose of direct and indirect trauma exposure at work, use of emotional and instrumental support to cope, state report cards on sex trafficking policies, and organizational-level practices toward being STS informed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Aggress Maltreat Trauma
February 2023
Globally, there is a high prevalence of adversity exposure, and there is evidence indicating a linear association between adversity exposure, particularly childhood adversity, and adults' psychological distress. To better understand this association, researchers have examined the role of emotion regulation abilities, which are thought to impact and underlie one's psychological well-being. The present study examined the association between childhood versus adulthood adversity exposure and self-reported difficulties with emotion regulation and physiological indicators of emotion regulation (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Given the scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not surprising that research has documented negative effects to youth's mental health. Yet, there is negligible research on the impact of the pandemic among clinical samples of youth receiving treatment for pre-existing trauma exposure and symptoms. The current study investigates COVID-19 as an index trauma, and if prior traumatic stress scores mediate the relationship between pandemic-related exposure and subsequent traumatic stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Emerging research has demonstrated that organizational efforts at becoming secondary traumatic stress (STS)-informed can improve the overall well-being of the workforce, especially when implementation activity by a champion team is high. Questions remain, however, regarding the mechanisms that enable these improvements.
Method: This study uses configurational analysis to determine necessary and sufficient conditions to produce reductions in STS symptoms in workers as well as organizational improvements toward being more STS-informed in a cohort survey of 6,033 professionals working with individuals exposed to trauma representing 52 organizations.
Objective: The toll of COVID-19 stress on the mental health of the workforce has been well-documented. The present study examined the use of the Project ECHO framework to provide practices and resources on stress management and emotion regulation to increase individual and organizational health and well-being.
Methods: Three independent ECHOs were designed and conducted over an 18-month period.
Background: Through Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), the gold standard in children's trauma treatment, caregivers participate in sessions parallel to the child. However, much of the research examining the impact of this caregiver involvement has focused on biological or relative caregivers, despite the high prevalence of trauma and trauma symptoms among youth in foster care and high rates of parenting stress among foster/adoptive caregivers.
Objective: The current study examined differences among relative and foster/adoptive caregivers' levels of parenting stress throughout the course of TF-CBT and how these differences were associated with child trauma symptoms throughout treatment.
There is a high prevalence of children whose parents suffer with a substance use disorder (SUD), which is associated with negative outcomes for children such as behavior problems and parents' child abuse potential. To understand negative consequences for children, it is important to consider a cumulative risk model, examining the impact of multiple co-occurring risks, as well as examine unique singular risk factors, such as parenting stress, which may have a direct effect on outcomes as well as mediate an association between cumulative risk and outcomes. Data came from 99 mothers with SUD, engaged in a substance treatment program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fam Trauma Child Custody Child Dev
September 2021
Hostile attribution bias (HAB), or the tendency to interpret others' intent as hostile, has been linked to a variety of maladaptive outcomes including aggression and harsh parenting practices. The current cross-sectional study examined the influence of parents' childhood and adulthood adversity exposure (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrauma Violence Abuse
October 2022
Although evidence suggests that individuals' appraisals (i.e., subjective interpretations) of adverse or traumatic life events may serve as a mechanism accounting for differences in adversity exposure and psychological adjustment, understanding this mechanism is contingent on our ability to reliably and consistently measure appraisals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch shows that exposure to child maltreatment increases the risk of internalizing symptoms for youth, and that youth in foster care are at a particularly high risk of symptoms. However, not all youth who experience maltreatment evidence maladjustment, making the link between exposure and mental health outcomes unclear and creating a need to examine what factors buffer against symptomatology. A sample of youth in foster care was used to provide a new examination of the relation between child maltreatment exposure and internalizing symptoms, to test the possible moderating effects of both appraisals and spirituality, and examine differences between children and adolescents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Childhood adversity is linked with unhealthy eating behaviours and obesity, but the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear, specifically the transgenerational behavioural precursors that develop in early childhood.
Objective: To determine whether adversity predicts change in obesogenic food consumption through child emotion dysregulation, and whether caregiver emotion dysregulation modifies this association.
Methods: Participants included 190 low-income caregiver-child dyads (mean child age = 4.
Psycholog Relig Spiritual
August 2019
The effects of spirituality and youth relationships with others on internalizing, externalizing, and adaptive outcomes were examined in a sample of 159 youth between the ages of 8 and 21 in foster or residential care. Indirect effects of direct coping and perceived social support on the relations between these factors and youth outcomes were examined. Preliminary analyses indicated a significant relation between youth spirituality and adaptive outcomes, with a significant indirect effect of perceived social support on these relations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFYouth in foster care with maltreatment experiences often demonstrate higher rates of mental and behavioral health problems compared to youth in the general population as well as maltreated youth who remain at home. Previous research has demonstrated that dimensions of maltreatment (type, frequency, and severity) and placement instability are two prominent factors that account for high rates of psychopathology (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChild Abuse Negl
July 2017
The present article examines the role of poly-victimization (i.e., number of categories of maltreatment experiences and total maltreatment exposure) in predicting differences in appraisals for 272 youth in foster care (ages 8-21).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrauma Violence Abuse
December 2018
Currently, there are approximately 10.8 million child refugees worldwide. Youth living in refugee camps face a wide range of difficulties placing them at risk for trauma exposure and negative mental health outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF