1. Figure 1. Traumatic events recalled from clients
Secondary and vicarious trauma and self-care practices among social workers
Jamila R. Ray, M.A. & Yvonne Wells, Ph.D. Suffolk University, Boston, MA
Introduction
Methods
Results cont’d
Summary of Qualitative Findings
Social workers recalled hearing multiple traumas from their clients (M = 5.12, SD = 2.86).
Top three traumas most frequently reported (see Figure 1) were physical abuse and assault ( “corporal punishment”), sexual abuse and assault (“incest”), and separation and neglect (“abandonment”).
87% of social workers feel their work with traumatized clients has had an effect on them
“I often feel depressed about children’s situations… I feel helpless in my ability to help them.”
Only 55% of social workers are satisfied with their current job and 58% plan to stay at their current job
“I am currently satisfied, because I have completed nearly two years of very hard work, and I feel I have given 100%, and have done the best I can.”
Discussion
A great deal of research has examined the psychological impact of trauma on victims, but far less research has focused on the impact of trauma on those who provide services to victims. The social work field involves listening and experiencing the pain a client is experiencing. The chronic day-to-day exposure to clients may become emotionally taxing, resulting in the development of conditions known as secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization.
Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is defined as the second hand exposure to a traumatic event in which symptoms are nearly identical to those experienced by the traumatized person (Figley, 1995). Similarly, vicarious traumatization (VT) is described as the long-term impact of second hand trauma experiences that changes social workers self-outlook and frame of reference (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995)
As research has begun to uncover the inherent risks in supporting traumatized individuals, researchers have begun to emphasize the importance of self-care among those who work with victimized populations. Self-care is defined as the necessary actions individuals take on a consistent basis to offset the negative aspects of working with trauma patients and promote their own health and well-being (Stamm, 1999).
Self-care has not garnered a great deal of research regarding STS and VT. In the studies where self-care has been addressed, there has been inconsistent findings of whether it can serve as a buffer or protective factor in developing STS and VT symptoms.
The social services community has acknowledged that social workers (SWs) underestimate the occupational hazards they face (Pryce, Shackleford & Pryce, 2007). As a result, self-care is a requirement of the social work curriculum (CSWE, 2008). However, there is still is a lack of awareness regarding SWs vulnerability to the effects of STS and VT and how self-care can protect against these conditions.
Participants
Thirty-six participants (33 females, 3 males) from a child welfare agency in New York City participated in the study.
• Age ranged from 23 to 41 years (M = 29.52, SD = 5.28)
• Ethnically diverse: 51.6% White, 48.5% Ethnic minorities
Measures
Quantitative Measures:
Secondary Traumatic Stress: Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS; Bride, 2004)
Vicarious Traumatization: Trauma Attachment Belief Scale (TABS; Pearlman, 2003)
Self-care: Self-care Assessment Worksheet (SCAW, Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996)
Demographic questionnaire
Qualitative Measure:
Four open-ended questions provided information on social worker’s professional experiences.
Procedures
Anonymous online survey
Statistical Analyses: Correlation and moderation procedures
Qualitative data categorized into themes
Nearly half of the participants experienced symptoms of STS, but not VT. This suggests that SWs may be experiencing the natural consequences of working with traumatized clients, such as fatigue and irritability, which are more day to day behavioral symptoms, rather than the cumulative and disruptive cognitive effects of VT.
Additionally, correlation analyses revealed that self-care was negatively correlated with both VT and STS. This suggest that engaging in self-care may reduce the risk for STS and VT and supports the idea that self-care may help combat the risk of secondary and vicarious trauma.
Although moderation analyses were not significant, this may be a power issue since results for VT were consistent with moderation. This suggests that engaging in self-care practices could possibly serve as a protective factor and buffer against VT symptoms, particularly when experiencing high number of traumatic events.
Lastly, qualitative data revealed that SWs have mixed feelings about job satisfaction and wanting to stay in the SW profession and suggested that organizational climate may be contributing to conditions of STS and VT and potentially burnout. This notion has been supported by past research suggesting that the organization plays a key role in the professional burnout process, which can all lead to a worker feeling emotionally exhausted and vulnerable to conditions of STS and VT.
Limitations: Burnout was not measured. The qualitative data suggests that participants may be experiencing symptoms of burnout and this could exacerbate STS and VT conditions. Although our study is ecologically valid, we used a convenience sample, thus our results are only generalizable to that Agency. Lastly, the majority of participants were women, although this is indicative of the gender bias within the social work profession.
Tables
Table 2. Intercorrelations Between Main Variables (N= 34)
STS VT Self-care TE
STS
VT **
Self-care ** **
TEa **
STS, secondary traumatic stress; VT, vicarious trauma; TE, Traumatic events; *p < .05, **p < .01
a: N = 26
Results
Quantitative Findings
Hypothesis 1: Partially supported.
Sixteen out of 36 participants (44%) scored in the clinical significant range on the STSS.
Only four out of 36 participants (11.1%) scored in the clinical significant range on the TABS .
Hypothesis 2: Supported.
Both VT and STS were negatively correlated with self-care (see Table 1). As expected, higher self-care corresponded with lower levels of symptoms.
VT had a strong negative relationship (r = -.611, p < .001), whereas STS had a moderate negative relationship (r = -.437, p = .010).
Hypothesis 3: Not supported.
• The number of traumatic events was not a significant moderator of the relationship between self-care and STS (β = -.030, p = n.s.) nor VT (β = -.091, p = n.s.).
• VT was consistent with moderation. The association between self-care and VT symptoms were tested for low, average, and high levels of traumatic events.
These tests revealed that self-care was more strongly and negatively related to VT symptoms for high levels of traumatic events (β = -.760, p = .036), than for average (β = -.627, p = .001), or lower levels of traumatic events (β = -.494, p = n.s.).
Figures
Key References
Bride, B.E., Robinson, M.M., Yegidis, B. & Figley, C.R. (2004). Development and validation of the secondary traumatic stress scale. Research on Social Work Practice, 14,
Figley, C.R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. New York: Brunner.
McCann, L. & Pearlman, L.A. (1990). Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3,
Pearlman, L.A. (2003). Trauma and attachment belief scale. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Saakvitne, K.W. & Pearlman, L.A. (1996). Transforming the pain: Workbook on vicarious traumatization. Pennsylvania: Norton.
Figure 1. Traumatic events recalled from clients
Study Aims
Thus, this study sought to explore the nature of STS and VT by gaining a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of SWs through an assessment of STS and VT symptoms and their relationship to self-care practices. In addition, we will provide descriptive information about the types of traumas experienced second-hand from clients
Hypotheses
1. Social workers will report a high number of STS and VT symptoms.
• STSS scores > 44
• TABS scores > 60T
STS and VT symptoms will be negatively correlated with self-care.
This relationship may be moderated by the number of traumatic events recalled from clients.
Contact information
Direct inquires to Jamila Ray at