Vicarious traumatization: an investigation of the effects of trauma work on mental health professionals in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of trauma work on mental health professionals working in the trauma field in Turkey, as well as to identify protective factors and risk factors which predict vicarious traumatization. It was aimed to explore the probable association of demographic variables, level of education and special training on trauma, level of exposure to trauma work in terms of workload, caseload and experience years in the trauma field as well as the level of burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion, ways of coping in terms of active and passive coping styles, perceived social support and presence of a personal trauma history in predicting vicarious traumatization. The study was composed of an integrative methodological design; the data of the quantitative part was based on a sample of 260 mental health professionals, including, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists and psychological counselors who work with trauma in Turkey, while the data of the qualitative part was composed of in depth interviews with 7 psychologists who work in trauma field in Ġstanbul, Turkey. The results of thequantitative analyses indicated that education level, profession, active coping style and emotional burnout were found as statistically significant predictors of vicarious traumatization. Especially, emotional burnout was found to be the most effective predictor. Emotional burnout fully mediated the relationship between caseload and vicarious traumatization. It was also found that the association between emotional burnout and vicarious traumatization was moderated by the coping style of the professionals. The results of the qualitative analyses supported these results, specifically indicating that workload, caseload and burnout were identified as risk factors for vicarious traumatization while education, training, support, active coping style and self-care as protective factors against vicarious traumatization; additionally and surprisingly, vicarious posttraumatic growth was also reported by the professionals who got use of these protective factors.