Impact of Trauma Exposure on Psychosocial Functioning of Media Professionals: Sense of Coherence as Moderator

Abstract

Media professionals may experience impaired psychosocial functioning (PF) as a result of direct or indirect exposure to distressing content or events. The literature suggests that exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) does not necessarily lead to psychopathology. It is thus necessary to identify the role of protective factors—for example, sense of coherence (SOC)—that result in healthy PF. For this purpose, 307 media professionals were surveyed to assess the moderating role of SOC in the relationship between PTEs and PF. Results demonstrate that a significant positive correlation exists between SOC and PF and both are negatively but nonsignificantly associated with PTEs. Furthermore, SOC moderated the relationship between PTEs and PF.