The study provides a systematic review of the empirical evidence for associations between job burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) among professionals working with trauma survivors, indirectly exposed to traumatic material. Differences in the conceptualization and measurement of job burnout and STS were assumed to moderate these associations. A systematic review of literature yielded 41 original studies, analyzing data from a total of 8,256 workers. Meta-analysis indicated that associations between job burnout and STS were strong (weighted r = .69). Studies applying measures developed within the compassion fatigue framework (one of the conceptualizations of job burnout and STS) showed significantly stronger relationships between job burnout and STS, indicating a substantial overlap between measures (weighted r = .74; 55% of shared variance). Research applying other frameworks and measures of job burnout (i.e., stressing the role of emotional exhaustion) and STS (i.e., focusing on symptoms resembling posttraumatic stress disorder or a cognitive shift specific for vicarious trauma) showed weaker, although still substantial associations (weighted r = .58; 34% of shared variance). Significantly stronger associations between job burnout and STS were found for: (a) studies conducted in the United States compared to other countries; (b) studies using English-language versions of the questionnaires compared to other-language versions, and (c) research in predominantly female samples. The results suggest that, due to high correlations between job burnout and STS, there is a substantial likelihood that a professional exposed to secondary trauma would report similar levels of job burnout and STS, particularly if job burnout and STS were measured within the framework of compassion fatigue.

Significant self-efficacy-burnout relationships were observed across countries, although the strength of associations varied across burnout components, participants' profession, and their age.

This longitudinal research examined the directions of the relationships between job burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) among human services workers. In particular, using cross-lagged panel design, we investigated whether job burnout predicts STS at 6-month follow up or whether the level of STS symptoms explains job burnout at 6-month follow-up. Participants in Study 1 were behavioral or mental healthcare providers (N = 135) working with U.S. military personnel suffering from trauma. Participants in Study 2 were healthcare providers, social workers, and other human services professions (N = 194) providing various types of services for civilian trauma survivors in Poland. The cross-lagged analyses showed consistent results for both longitudinal studies; job burnout measured at Time 1 led to STS at Time 2, but STS assessed at Time 1 did not lead to job burnout at Time 2. These results contribute to a discussion on the origins of STS and job burnout among human services personnel working in highly demanding context of work-related secondary exposure to traumatic events and confirm that job burnout contributes to the development of STS.

Objective: This 2-study longitudinal investigation examined the indirect effects of secondary traumatic stress (STS) on secondary traumatic growth via two mediators: perceived social support and secondary trauma self-efficacy. In particular, we tested if the 2 hypothetical mediators operate sequentially, that is, with secondary trauma self-efficacy facilitating social support (i.e., cultivation hypothesis) and/or social support enhancing self-efficacy (i.e., enabling hypothesis). Method: Participants in Results: In both studies, multiple mediational analyses showed evidence for the cultivation hypothesis. The relationship between STS at Time 1 and secondary traumatic growth at Time 2 was mediated sequentially by secondary trauma self-efficacy at Time 1 and social support at Time 2. The enabling hypothesis was not supported. Conclusion: Education and development programs for healthcare workers may benefit from boosting self-efficacy with the intent to facilitate perceived social support.

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The psychometric properties of a Trauma Coping Self-Efficacy (CSE-T) scale that assesses general trauma-related coping self-efficacy perceptions were assessed. Measurement equivalence was assessed using several different samples: hospitalized trauma patients (n1 = 74, n2 = 69, n3 = 60), three samples of disaster survivors (n1 = 273, n2 = 227, n3 = 138), and trauma exposed college students (N = 242). This is the first multi-sample evaluation of the psychometric properties for a general trauma-related CSE measure. Results showed that a brief and parsimonious 9-item version of the CSE performed well across the samples with a robust factor structure; factor structure and factor loadings were similar across study samples. The 9-item scale CSE-T demonstrated measurement equivalence across samples indicating that the underlying concept of general post-traumatic CSE is organized in a similar manner in the different trauma-exposed groups. These results offer strong support for cross-event construct validity of the CSE-T scale. Associations of the CSE-T with important expected covariates showed significant evidence for convergent validity. Finally, discriminant validity was also supported. Replication of the factor structure, internal reliability, and other evidence for construct validity is a critical next step for future research.

The Secondary Trauma Self-Efficacy (STSE) Scale was developed and psychometrically evaluated in 2 studies targeting populations indirectly exposed to traumatic events through work with traumatized clients. Study 1 enrolled behavioral health professionals (n = 247) providing trauma therapy for military clients in the United States. Study 2 investigated characteristics of the STSE Scale among health care and social workers (n(T1) = 306, nT2 = 193) providing services for trauma victims and survivors in Poland. Rooted in social cognitive theory, the 7-item STSE Scale is used to evaluate perceived ability to cope with the challenging demands resulting from work with traumatized clients and perceived ability to deal with the secondary traumatic stress symptoms. In both studies, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed unidimensionality of the scale. The results indicated good internal consistency of the STSE Scale and its stability over time. STSE correlated highly or moderately with secondary traumatic stress symptoms. Comparatively, associations between STSE and perceived social support, secondary traumatic growth, and negative beliefs about the world and self were either moderate or low. The STSE factor structure and pattern of correlations with the validity measures were invariant across the 2 studies, which indicated that the STSE Scale may be a culturally unbiased instrument.

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