IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12881-d936290.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress

Author

Listed:
  • Maša Vukčević Marković

    (Laboratory for Research of Individual Differences, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
    Psychosocial Innovation Network, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Marko Živanović

    (Laboratory for Research of Individual Differences, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
    Psychosocial Innovation Network, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
    Institute of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

Abstract

Exposure to the traumatic experiences of others can lead to secondary traumatization (STS) , a condition comprising trauma-related symptoms. There is a lack of evidence on efficient ways to mitigate STS among professionals working with refugees, who are secondarily exposed to traumatic content. This study examines the latent structure of coping mechanisms and explores the predictive power of coping strategies for STS in a sample of professionals working with refugees. A total of 288 participants (age: M = 34.01, SD = 10.03; 57.3% female) working with refugees completed the COPE Inventory and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. Factor analysis of the COPE Inventory showed that coping mechanisms are grouped around four interrelated factors—Problem-focused, Socially supported emotion-focused, Avoidant, and Passive coping—which accounted for 46.7% of the variance. The regression model showed that Avoidant coping positively predicts negative alterations in cognition, mood, and reactivity (NACMR) and intrusions , and Passive coping was positively associated with NACMR and avoidance . Problem-focused coping was related to lower NACMR and avoidance , while Socially supported emotion-focused coping was not associated with any of the STS symptoms. In total, coping factors accounted for 10.8%, 6.3%, and 4.3% of the variance of NACMR , intrusions , and avoidance , respectively. The study provides a foundation for programs to mitigate STS among professionals working with refugees.

Suggested Citation

  • Maša Vukčević Marković & Marko Živanović, 2022. "Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12881-:d:936290
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12881/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12881/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maria Caterina Gargano & Dean Ajduković & Maša Vukčević Marković, 2022. "Mental Health in the Transit Context: Evidence from 10 Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-18, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Isabella Fernández Capriles & Andrea Armijos & Alejandra Angulo & Matthew Schojan & Milton L. Wainberg & Annie G. Bonz & Wietse A. Tol & M. Claire Greene, 2024. "Improving Retention in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Interventions: An Analysis of Completion Rates across a Multi-Site Trial with Refugee, Migrant, and Host Communities in Latin America," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-11, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12881-:d:936290. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.