Features of secondary trauma of mental health professionals in war conditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/BPSY.2026.1(23).20Keywords:
mental health, trauma, traumatic experience, secondary traumatic stress, resilienceAbstract
Background. Modern research indicates large-scale negative psychological consequences for the mental health of the population associated with war. This determines the high intensity of work of mental health professionals and the risk of their secondary traumatization, since their work involves constant contact with the traumatic experience of clients. Therefore, it is important to study the level of secondary trauma of professionals, as well as potential protective factors. The study aimed to examine the characteristics of secondary trauma among mental health professionals assisting war victims in Ukraine. The study sample comprised 170 people (psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, and volunteers).
Methods: sociodemographic questionnaire, The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) (Ting, Frey, Sanders, Bride & Harrington, 2005), The Chronic Traumatic Stress Response Scale (CTSR-10) (Goral et al., 2021), The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) (Cohen, Kamarck, Mermelstein, 1983), The Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC) (Connor, Davidson, 2003).
Results. Secondary traumatic stress is defined as a complex of behaviors and emotions that result from interaction with a client's traumatic experience. Its symptoms are intrusions, avoidance, and excessive arousal. The specific features of professionals' work with clients who have experienced trauma, including its intensity and associated challenges, are characterized. The severity of secondary trauma, as well as chronic traumatic and perceived stress of specialists, is revealed. It was found that secondary traumatic stress indicators are significantly higher in social workers compared to psychologists and psychotherapists. It was found that the age of specialists is negatively correlated with indicators of secondary traumatic stress; at the same time, it has no connection with resilience. No significant relationships were found between professional experience, resilience, and secondary trauma; however, a weak inverse relationship was found between age and indicators of chronic traumatic stress and secondary traumatization. Strong inverse relationships between resilience and indicators of secondary traumatic stress among professionals were found, confirming the importance of developing resilience as a potentially protective factor.
Conclusions. The results of the study confirm the high relevance of the problem of secondary traumatization for mental health professionals, especially social workers. This confirms the importance of developing and implementing specialized interventions to support the resilience of mental health workers.
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