Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth Research Articles

‘It Sounds Bizarre, but I Can Call It a Good Thing Now’: Social Worker’s Lived Experiences of Posttraumatic Growth following Dual Disaster Events

Abstract This article reports on findings from a research study on social workers who practised in Christchurch, New Zealand, following two disaster events: the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 and the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks. The concept of posttraumatic growth (PTG), with particular reference to vicarious PTG, double exposure and shared resilience, is also explored in relation to this research. Data were gathered via qualitative interviews with twenty-three registered social workers conducted in 2021 and analysed through a reflexive thematic analysis. The findings reveal Christchurch social workers believed, due to their involvement in disaster response work, that their practice skills were enhanced, and they gained new understandings of trauma, including the positive changes which can occur as a result of exposure to traumatic experiences. The social work participants also considered their interpersonal and professional relationships as essential to the development of their own sense of resilience. This article concludes with a discussion on the implications of these findings and PTG theory for contemporary social work practice.

Coping profiles and their association with vicarious post-traumatic growth among nurses during the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to examine (a) changes in coping strategies and vicarious post-traumatic growth (VPTG) across three timepoints of the COVID-19 pandemic among nurses; (b) discrete groups of nurses with unique coping profiles and (c) the association of these coping profiles with VPTG across the timepoints. Although literature abounds with the negative mental health consequences of the pandemic among healthcare professionals, much less is known about the positive consequences on nurses, the coping strategies that they use, and how these change over time. This was a cross-sectional web-based survey at three timepoints during the pandemic. A sample of 429 nurses completed online the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (COPE) to measure vicarious post-traumatic growth (VPTG) and coping strategies, respectively. The STROBE checklist was used to report the present study. Significantly higher VPTG scores were observed during the third timepoint. Different coping strategies were employed across the three timepoints. Nurses responded to the pandemic either with an active, an avoidant or a passive coping profile. Significantly higher VPTG levels were reported by the nurses of the active profile compared to those of the passive profile, whereas the difference between active and avoidant profiles was not significant. Notwithstanding the preponderance of the nurses with the active coping profile in achieving high VPTG, the avoidant copers had more gains (VPTG) than the passive copers, suggesting that doing something to cope with the stressor-let it be trying to avoid it-was better than doing nothing. The identification of distinct coping profiles among nurses and their association with VPTG is of particular use to policymakers and practitioners in developing tailored prevention and intervention efforts to help the nurses effectively manage the demands of the pandemic. No patient or public contribution since the study was exclusively conducted by the authors.

The Relationship between Self-care Practices and Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth among Counsellors in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Vicarious posttraumatic growth in counselling professionals is becoming an increasingly interesting area of research and practice, owing to its influence on the quality of services counsellors deliver. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between self-care practices and vicarious posttraumatic growth among counsellors in Nairobi County. The study adopted a quantitative, correlational research design in which a proportionate sample of 306 participants responded to a closed-ended questionnaire. The study results revealed a significant relationship between self-care practices and vicarious posttraumatic growth among the respondents. Predictive relationship established that practicing balanced self-care had a 1.73 times likelihood to experiencing higher levels of vicarious posttraumatic growth. The study made recommendations on how to achieve balanced self-care practices to optimize vicarious posttraumatic growth.

Contributing factors to secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in therapists.

Alongside the recognized potential negative repercussions of working as a psychological therapist, there is growing interest in the potential positive impacts of engaging in such work. The current study used a cross-sectional online survey design to explore the impact of a range of demographic, work-related, and compassion-related factors on levels of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG) in an international sample of 359 psychological therapists. Hierarchical multiple regressions demonstrated that burnout, lower levels of self-compassion, having a personal trauma history, reporting a higher percentage of working time with a trauma focus, and being female were the statistically significant contributors to STS scores, explaining 40.8% of the variance, F(9, 304) = 23.2, p <.001. For VPTG, higher compassion satisfaction, higher self-compassion, higher STS, a higher percentage of working time with a trauma focus, fewer years qualified, being male, and having a personal trauma history were all statistically significant contributors, explaining 27.3% of the variance, F (10, 304) = 11.37, p <.001. The findings illustrate the potential risk and protective factors for developing STS and clarify factors that may increase the likelihood of experiencing VPTG. Implications for psychological therapists and the organizations and institutions for which they work are considered along with potential directions for future research in the discussion.

Social support and vicarious posttraumatic growth among psychological hotline counselors during COVID-19: the role of resilience and cognitive reappraisal

ABSTRACT Background The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious threat to people's lives and mental health. As a key worker providing psychological assistance services, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between social support and vicarious posttraumatic growth of psychological hotline counselors during COVID-19 and its mechanism. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 241 psychological hotline counselors. Path analysis was conducted through structural equation modeling. Results The direct path from social support to vicarious posttraumatic growth of psychological hotline counselors was not significant, but the indirect path between them was significant. Social support can influence vicarious posttraumatic growth of psychological hotline counselors through the mediating effects of resilience and cognitive reappraisal as well as the chain mediating effects of these two factors. Conclusions Social support does not directly stimulate vicarious posttraumatic growth in psychological hotline counselors, but social support can influence counselors' vicarious posttraumatic growth through the role of resilience, cognitive reappraisal, and the chain-mediated effects of psychological resilience and cognitive reappraisal. This encourages hotline counselors to be intentional about applying resources to balance the effects of trauma work on them as they face their clinical work.

Growing together: displaced women’s resilience and growth in reciprocal relationship

This research set out to investigate displaced women’s resilience and growth relationally, including relationships between displaced women and their children and how growth might extend to those working with displaced women. A unique relational, narrative and ethnographic approach demonstrated how processes of ‘reciprocal growth’ were constructed. Moving beyond previous concepts such as vicarious post-traumatic growth and ‘reciprocal resilience’, the unique finding of the research was women’s and volunteers’ co-construction of resilience and growth interpersonally and intersubjectively. ‘Othering’ narratives were dismantled through shared story and reciprocal human relationships, which allowed for a growthful connection between intra-psychic meaning making and wider community: linking what’s ‘within’ (I) to what’s ‘between’ (we). Consciously paying attention to reciprocal growth processes has empowering connotations for displaced women, those in relationship with them and society itself.

Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in healthcare professionals: A meta-analysis.

Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in healthcare professionals: A meta-analysis.

Secondary traumatic stress and work ability in death care workers: The moderating role of vicarious posttraumatic growth.

Death care work consists of dealing with traumatic events frequently, if not daily. This type of exposure is considered characteristic of the profession and can lead to significant negative consequences such as secondary traumatic stress. However, sometimes positive changes can occur as a result of experiencing trauma, which is referred to as vicarious posttraumatic growth. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG) in the relationship between secondary traumatic stress (STS) and work ability (WA) in a sample of 231 death care workers in northern Italy. Regression analysis with interaction was performed using PROCESS. The results showed a negative association between STS and WA and a positive association between VPTG and WA. The interaction between STS and VPTG was also statistically significant. The moderating role of VPTG was partially confirmed by the analysis: at low and moderate VPTG levels, the conditional effect was negative and statistically significant, while at high VPTG, STS exposure had no significant and negative effect on WA, as if VPTG had some kind of protective role against STS. These results provide new insights into the role of VPTG in work environments with daily trauma exposure, such as death care.

Thriving after trauma in emotional livelihood journalism in China: Vicarious exposure to trauma and vicarious post-traumatic growth among journalists

This study examined the negative impact of vicarious exposure to trauma (VET) and its transformation into vicarious post-traumatic growth (VPTG) among a particular type of journalist in China: emotional livelihood journalists. These journalists are often exposed to indirect trauma and have a high degree of emotional involvement with their subjects. Utilising cluster sampling, 126 such journalists (F = 92, M = 34) were selected to participate in this study. VET, secondary traumatic stress (STS), empathy, social support, and VPTG were measured through an online questionnaire to provide a moderated mediation model. Linear regression analysis showed that (1) VET directly predicts VPTG in reporters, and indirectly predicts VPTG through the mediating effect of STS; (2) when empathy is high, VET has a greater impact on STS levels, but when empathy is low, its effect is non-significant in the relationship between VET and VPTG; and (3) social support was not a significant moderator in the model. This study is among the first to link VET to VPTG among journalists, demonstrating that STS mediates this relationship and that empathy moderates the association between VET and STS. The results imply that dealing indirectly with trauma can lead to positive psychological changes in journalists. Media organisations can facilitate VPTG by offering comprehensive psychological support for journalists exposed to indirect traumatic events.

A preliminary validation of the vicarious Posttraumatic Growth Inventory across helping professions and investigation of construct validity.

A preliminary validation of the vicarious Posttraumatic Growth Inventory across helping professions and investigation of construct validity.

Secondary traumatic stress, vicarious posttraumatic growth, and rumination among healthcare professionals: Examining conditional indirect effect of secondary exposure to trauma.

Secondary traumatic stress, vicarious posttraumatic growth, and rumination among healthcare professionals: Examining conditional indirect effect of secondary exposure to trauma.

Vicarious posttraumatic growth: A systematic review and thematic synthesis across helping professions.

Vicarious posttraumatic growth: A systematic review and thematic synthesis across helping professions.

The meta-analytic relationship between secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in adults.

The meta-analytic relationship between secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in adults.

Re-exploring the vicarious posttraumatic growth and trauma: A comparison study between private therapists and therapists in nonprofit organizations treating trauma survivors.

Re-exploring the vicarious posttraumatic growth and trauma: A comparison study between private therapists and therapists in nonprofit organizations treating trauma survivors.

Voluntary Search-and-Rescue Workers’ Experiences After Witnessing Trauma in the Earthquake Field

Turkey has an earthquake-prone geography, and as in Turkey, when professional resources are not sufficiently available in a community hit by a disaster, volunteer search-and-rescue workers’ help is crucial for quickly meeting disaster-area needs. However, few studies focus on volunteer search-and-rescuer’s post-traumatic reactions although trauma literature has grown regarding professional search-and-rescue teams’ post-traumatic responses. Based on this gap in the literature, this study was conducted. This qualitative study provides an in-depth understanding of secondary trauma and vicarious post-traumatic growth among 13 search-and-rescue team workers involved in disaster relief activities following the 2020 Izmir earthquake in Turkey. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and an interpretive phenomenological approach was used. The findings revealed that the participants suffered secondary traumatic stress symptoms, namely, hyperarousal, intrusive images, and thoughts but experienced vicarious post-traumatic growth in discovering personal strength, relating to others, appreciating life, and striving to do their job better. This study’s findings can be a source for developing psychosocial post-disaster support services and interventions for volunteers and be used to improve pre-field preparation training content for voluntary search-and-rescue teams. The findings also underlined the fact that focusing on facilitating vicarious post-traumatic growth is as crucial as overcoming voluntary search-and-rescue workers’ post-traumatic stress.

Knowledge Structure of Posttraumatic Growth Research : A Network Analysis

Posttraumatic growth literature has been rapidly expanding in multiple academic disciplines. Purpose of this study is to examine the knowledge structure of posttraumatic growth utilizing a network analysis. Papers published between 1996 and 2018 were searched on the Web of Science, focusing on terms related to posttraumatic growth. One thousand six-hundred and fifty-nine keywords were published 6,343 times in 1,780 papers; thus, a total of 322 keywords (5,195 appearances) were selected for the final analysis. The network analysis and network visualization tool used were NodeXL and PFnet, respectively. The keywords which appeared the most frequently were “Posttraumatic growth,” followed by “Posttraumatic Stress Disease,” “Cancer,” and “Trauma.” A total of 322 nodes have been reduced to 175 nodes and divided into a total of five groups. The five groups were “Posttraumatic Growth in Cancer, Chronic/Serious Illness, and Disability,” “Posttraumatic Growth-related Psychological Variables and Psychotherapy,” “Posttraumatic Growth in the Context of Death,” “Cognitive Mechanisms of Posttraumatic Growth,” and “Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth.” This study provides a systematic overview on the knowledge structure of posttraumatic growth by quantitatively network analysis.

Secondary trauma, burnout and resilience among mental health professionals from India: A review of research.

While globally there has been growing research interest in the negative psychological consequences faced by helping professionals, literature among Indian Mental Health Professionals (MHPs) is sparse, and predominantly focussed on health care workers. This systematic review aims to synthesize and summarize current Indian literature on burnout, secondary traumatic stress and resilience among Indian MHPs. The review explores 14 research studies published in peer-reviewed journals between January 2005 to January 2022. Studies in the areas of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and resilience have been included in the review. The term resilience within this paper includes compassion satisfaction, vicarious post-traumatic growth, well-being, coping, and stress management. The mental health professionals considered were psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, psychiatric social workers, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors. Studies were reviewed for their methodological considerations, the mental health population being studied, and the primary outcomes. Data related to sociodemographic variables, psychological impacts, risk and protective factors that influence burnout, secondary trauma and resilience among mental health professionals in India have been reported. The review summarizes conceptual, methodological, and analytical gaps and generates recommendations that contribute to theoretical and practice-based improvements in this area of research and practice.

The role of empathy and cognitive trauma processing in the occurrence of professional posttraumatic growth among women working with victims of violence.

Professionals helping victims of violence trauma, in addition to a number of negative effects, may also experience positive changes in the form of vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG). Cognitive trauma processing and empathy seem to be important to VPTG. The aim was to determine the relationship between empathy, cognitive trauma processing and VPTG in female professionals helping violence victims. The study included 154 women representing 3 professional groups (therapists, social workers, probation officers). The subjects' age ranged 26-67 years (M±SD 43.98±10.83). The study used 3 standard measurement tools, i.e. the Secondary Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Empathic Sensitiveness Scale, measuring 3 aspects of empathy, i.e. empathic concern, personal distress and perspective taking, the Cognitive Processing of Trauma Scale, allowing assessment of 5 remedial strategies (positive cognitive restructuring, downward comparison, resolution/acceptance, denial, regret) and a survey developed for the use of the research. Positive correlations were found between empathy, cognitive coping strategies and VPTG. Positive cognitive restructuring and resolution/acceptance strategies were found to mediate the relationship between empathy and VPTG. Professionals helping trauma victims may experience positive effects in the form of VPTG. The occurrence of VPTG in female professionals is enhanced by the use of empathy and positive coping strategies. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2022;35(6):679-92.

Secondary Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth among nurses during three COVID-19 lockdowns in Greece

IntroductionSince the onset of the pandemic, nurses have been repeatedly exposed to their patients’ COVID-19-related traumatic experiences. Therefore, they are at high risk for Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), the stress syndrome resulting from helping others who are suffering. Positive psychological outcomes following this vicarious exposure are also likely. Vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG) refers to the positive changes from working with patients who themselves have coped with traumatic experiences.ObjectivesThis study aims to examine STS and VPTG among 429 nurses during three lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece.MethodsA repeated cross-sectional survey with a convenience and snowball sampling procedure was conducted. The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Brief Cope (BC) were used to measure STS, VPTG, resilience, and coping strategies, respectively.ResultsNurses in Greece demonstrated high levels of STS at the first lockdown, significantly lower in the second one, which raised again -but not significantly- in the third lockdown. Resilience significantly decreased, whereas VPTG significantly increased across the three lockdowns. Following the escalation of the pandemic nurses in general used significantly more adaptive and less maladaptive coping strategies to deal with the crisis.ConclusionsFurther research is needed to clarify the longitudinal course of the negative and positive psychological effects of the pandemic on healthcare staff. Conclusions can guide the development of interventions to safeguard nurses from the deleterious impacts of the COVID-19 and support them in their process of growth.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

From secondary traumatic stress to vicarious posttraumatic growth amid COVID-19 lockdown in Greece: The role of health care workers’ coping strategies.

Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk for suffering negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as secondary traumatic stress symptoms (STS), as they are exposed to this traumatic experience both directly, as community residents, and indirectly, in the care of infected patients. Following vicarious exposure, positive psychological outcomes, such as vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG), are also likely, though they are less studied. The present study aims to examine (a) the associations among STS, VPTG, and coping strategies among HCWs during the COVID-19 lockdown and (b) the mediating role of coping strategies in the STS-VPTG relationship. Cross-sectional online data were collected amid the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece (March 23, 2020 through May 3, 2020) from a sample of 647 HCWs (25% men, 75% women). The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, the Post Traumatic Growth Inventory, and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory were used to measure STS, VPTG, and coping strategies, respectively. HCWs reported moderate to low levels of STS and VPTG, with the VPTG dimensions of personal strength and appreciation of life being the highest categories. Intrusions mental and both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies predicted VPTG. Adaptive coping strategies partially mediated the relationship between STS and VPTG, whereas maladaptive coping strategies fully mediated this relationship. Understanding the coping responses during lockdown among HCWs is important for developing tailored prevention and intervention actions to protect the populations at risk from the deleterious impacts of uncontrollable and life-threatening diseases and promote posttraumatic growth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).