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Exploring the prevalence and mitigating variables of secondary traumatic stress in K-12 educators

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Exploring the prevalence and mitigating variables of secondary traumatic stress in K-12 educators

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Content Running head: SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS 1

EXPLORING THE PREVALENCE AND MITIGATING VARIABLES OF SECONDARY
TRAUMATIC STRESS IN K-12 EDUCATORS

by

Stephen P. Hydon

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2016

Copyright 2016 Stephen P. Hydon
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Acknowledgements
Trust me when I tell you the journey to this doctorate and writing this dissertation began
in Philadelphia over a bowl of pasta with my boss, Dr. Marleen Wong. More on her later. While
there are friends and family too numerous to mention who have helped me along the way, I
would like to take a moment to personally acknowledge a few of those individuals who were
instrumental in inspiring, encouraging, pushing and supporting me through this endeavor.
My friend and colleague Rafael Angulo who is such a great teacher and allowed me to
tap into his wealth of organic wisdom. My friend and colleague Gerry Laviña who once
encouraged me with his famous words, “just get it done”! My classmate and friend Kyle
Waterstone, you da’ man. To my committee members Dr. Baca and especially Dr.G who
believed in me and helped me tremendously along that way. To my committee Chair, Dr. Alan
Green who kept me on track, on pace and a part of tēm/ kəmˈplēSH(ə)n/. To Dr. Marleen Wong.
You had the courage to believe in me, to trust me and to never look back. I will be forever
indebted to you.
To Dawn Gillam. Dawn, you are such a good friend and such a good person to me,
Rhonda and our son, Colin. Thank you for all you did to make this dream come true.
To Richard and Ann Chabran. Words cannot begin to express how much I admire each of you.
Your help, words of encouragement, your checking in and your unconditional support of this
entire process will never be forgotten. Honestly, this does not happen without the two of you. I
thank you from the bottom of my heart. To my parents, Ma’ Dukes and Big Billiam. You once
sent me the following quote and I will cherish it forever, “…filled with growing conviction that
authenticity, compassion, inclusivity and justice are essential ingredients to ‘abundant living’.
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We are so very grateful”. And I am so very grateful for all you have done to help shape the
human being I am today.
Finally, to my loving partner Rhonda. The woman who never let go, never doubted and
never ever waivered in her trust that we could do this together. Your resilience along the way,
your late night pep talks, and your presence even when I wasn’t present made this possibility a
reality. We did it! And to my son, Colin Rafael Hydon (our little pappa). You inspire me to do
great every day. I am so proud to be your Dad and I hope someday you’ll be just a little proud to
be my son.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 2
List of Tables 5
Abstract 6
Chapter One: Introduction 7
Background to the Problem 8
Statement of the Problem 9
Importance of the Study 10
Chapter Two: Literature Review 12
Phenomena Associated With Secondary Traumatic Stress 14
Burnout 15
Stress 16
Vicarious Trauma 17
Compassion Fatigue 17
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 18
Secondary Traumatic Stress 20
Commonalities within the Relationship of STS and Other Associated Phenomena 21
STS in Other Helping Professions 23
Mediating and Moderating Variables that Minimize the Risk of STS 25
Conceptual Framework 28
Conclusion 30
Chapter Three: Methodology 34
Sample and Population 35
Instrumentation 37
Data Collection 38
Data Analysis 39
Chapter Four: Results 41
Participant Description 41
Treatment of Data 43
Results Research Question One 44
Results 44
Results Research Question Two 45
Results 45
Results Research Question Three 53
Results 53
Summary 53
Chapter Five: Discussion 55
Discussion of Findings 55
Limitations 59
Implications for Practice 60
Future Research 61
Conclusions 61
References 63
Appendix: Teachers’ Exposure to Stressful Events Instrument 71

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List of Tables
Table 1: Demographic Variables for All Participants 42
Table 2: Reliability of Scale for Study 43
Table 3: Frequencies of Intrusion as Measured on the STSS 46
Table 4: Frequencies of Avoidance as Measured on the STSS 47
Table 5: Frequencies of Arousal as Measured on the STSS 48
Table 6: Frequencies of Overall STS as Measured on the STSS 49
Table 7: Frequencies of Compassion satisfaction as Measured on the ProQol 50
Table 8: Frequencies of Burnout as Measured on the ProQol 51
Table 9: Frequencies of STS as Measured on the ProQol 52

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Abstract
Although secondary traumatic stress has recently been gaining the attention of public
school systems, the evidence of the impact of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) on teachers has
just begun to be explored. Further, no specific interventions to address STS in the unique
environment of public schools presently exist. Teachers who work in school settings with
students who have experienced some form of severe trauma or students that have trauma
histories are subject to STS. The U.S. Department of Education indicates that STS can impact a
person’s physical, emotional, psychological, cognitive and professional attributes. In a review of
the literature during the past two decades, there has been two empirical studies that explore STS
in K-12 educators working in public schools.
This study set out to explore levels of STS in teachers working a public school district
that were perhaps vulnerable to symptoms of STS. The study also explored the relationships
between STS and other commonly associated phenomena such as burnout. Overall, the study
found very minimal levels of STS in the sample, but did find unique correlations between STS
and symptoms of withdrawal, arousal and thought intrusion. Interestingly enough, the study
found higher rates of compassion satisfaction than STS.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
The phenomenon of secondary traumatic stress (STS) can be described as stressful
behaviors and emotions resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering
person (Figley, 1995). Teachers who work in school settings with students who have
experienced some form of severe trauma or students that have trauma histories are subject to
STS (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). However, studies exploring STS in teachers are
minimal (Motta, 2012) and more research needs to be conducted to examine its impact. There
are studies however that explore the impact of STS in other helping professions such as social
work, law enforcement, psychologists and first responders. Studies of these sorts will be
presented in Chapter Two. If it appears that STS is present in teachers, it may be important to
consider if there are variables that potentially minimize the risk or mediate the prevalence of STS
in educators. Again, there are studies in the field that review what some of these factors might
be in other professions, but they are limited when it comes to teachers. If teachers are
experiencing STS, it is important to explore if there are variables that exist that can help lessen
its impact.
There are a variety of classifications that describe a person who experiences indirect
trauma ~ secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and even post
traumatic stress disorder. Yet often, these terms are used interchangeably and a consensus in the
field on the differences and similarities is mixed. One area worth exploration is determining if
there is a relationship between each of these conditions so that addressing how to ameliorate
their effects is better understood. This would be an extensive and extremely time consuming
research study to undertake. However, it is important to review each of these conditions and
how symptoms may manifest in helping professions and if these are present in teachers.
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Specifically, it is important to understand if there are any relationship patterns that exist between
each aspect as this seems to be missing from the literature. A thorough review of what does exist
will be presented in Chapter Two.
Background to the Problem
STS was primarily conceptualized as a response to the stress of interpersonal interactions
between helper and client and continues to be viewed mainly as a response to dealing with
clients, specifically people who have been traumatized (Galek, Flannelly, Greene & Kudler,
2011). Many professionals risk vicarious trauma (often similar to secondary trauma) through
their contact with traumatized people or material that contains graphic images of trauma.
Exposure to traumatic client material has been found to be an important predictor for symptoms
of traumatic stress. The values and culture of an organization, such as schools, set the
expectations about how workers will experience trauma and deal with it, both professionally and
personally (Bell, Kulkarni & Dalton, 2003).
Schools are a microcosm of society where students spend roughly 35 hours per week;
some of whom have psychiatric disorders or histories of neglect, poor housing conditions or even
severe economic hardship (Hydon, Wong, Langley, Stein & Kataoka, 2015). When these
challenges are compounded with traumatic events, students can experience emotional difficulties
and academic struggles that come to the attention of their teachers. In one national study of
youth aged 10 to17 years, (Finkelhor, Turner, Shattuck, & Hamby, 2013) 41% experienced a
physical assault in the past year and 14% experienced child maltreatment. Overall, 57.7% of the
children and youth had experienced or witnessed at least 1 of 5 aggregate exposures (assaults and
bullying, sexual victimization, maltreatment by a caregiver, property victimization, or witnessing
victimization) in the year before this survey. It was also common to have had multiple exposures.
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In total, 48.4% had more than 1 of 50 possible specific victimization types involving direct or
witnessed victimization; 15.1% had 6 or more, and 4.9% had 10 or more. And according to the
US Department of Education, K-12 public schools nationally experienced 1,183,700 violent
events on campus, such as fights (with or without a weapon) and threats of physical attacks, at a
rate of 25 per 1000 students during the 2009-2010 school year (DeVoe et. al., 2005). Lastly, in
their study of over 1,400 children and adolescents, Costello, Erkanli, Fairbank and Angold
(2002) found that 25% of children reported an extreme stressor such as witnessing or learning
about a traumatic event. Because of studies like these, there has been growing recognition of the
importance of addressing the stress that teachers may experience as a result of their secondary
exposure to traumatic events (Hydon et. al. 2015).
Statement of the Problem
The field of STS and its prevalence in people working in helping professions is quite
extensive. Research suggests it is evident in mental health professionals, nurses and even school
personnel (Borntrager et al. 2012; Buchanon et al., 2006; Gomez & Rutledge, 2008). Yet, what
is not fully known is if STS is prevalent in public school teachers at the rates it appears to be
present in other helping professions. Furthermore, there is very little known about the variables
or factors that help to mitigate STS in teachers who experience it.
The purpose of this study is to explore if STS is present in K-12 educators from an urban
school district in Southern California and if there are factors that minimize the impact STS has
on teachers. This study will be a quantitative study using a survey instrument that will report
teachers’ responses to questions that inquire about STS, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma
and burnout. Furthermore, questions about work and life satisfaction will also be examined. The
research questions for this study are:
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Q1: What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting?
Q2: How does STS manifest in teachers and others working in helping professions?
Q3: Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS?
A correlational analysis will be used to explore the first research question, looking at
associations between variables across all phenomena i.e. STS, compassion fatigue, burnout, etc.
To explore research questions #2 and #3, multiple linear regression will be used. This statistical
analysis will help determine levels of STS in school district teachers, the impact of
symptomologies of STS and if there are variables that potentially minimize STS.
This study will use “A Conceptual Framework for the Impact of Traumatic Experiences”
by Carlson and Dalenberg (2000) as its conceptual lens. This framework explores why
symptoms such as depression, low self-esteem, avoidance and poor peer relationships persist
long after exposure to a traumatic event. Each of these conditions will be presented in Chapter
Two and are similar to the effects of STS. It also considers how factors such as social context
and prior life events influence how a person experiences trauma.
Importance of the Study
In a review of the literature during the past two decades, the author has found one
empirical study that explores STS in K-12 educators working in public schools, conducted by
Borntrager et. al., (2012). While studies do appear across the literature that explore the impact of
STS in other professions that require working with people, this study is important to the broader
field of literature because it will tap into a new area of research. STS impacts people in various
ways and learning how it impacts teachers can be important for how teachers maintain
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professional relationships, engage with students, and continue in the profession. In Chapter Two,
the author will explore what school principals look for when hiring a teacher such as caring for
others and wanting to help others, two primary qualities that make a good teacher but can put a
person at risk for STS. Knowing how to explore levels of STS and the variables that contribute
to its impact may help with teacher hiring and retention. This study may also lead to further
studies that examine teacher effectiveness and their ability to work with traumatized children.
The author hopes that others will view this study as a starting point to begin the conversation of
the very real nature of STS and if there are certain conditions that may actually reduce its
prevalence.
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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
It is often believed that exposure to individuals who have experienced significant trauma
can bring about changes in the caregivers working with that individual. There are several
concepts that help typify this phenomenon, but none more identifiable than secondary traumatic
stress (STS). STS can be described as the “experience of negative affective, cognitive and
behavioral states that result from extended and close contact with others who have been
traumatized” (Motta, 2012, p.257). STS has frequently been synonymous with other labels that
describe conditions in the human psyche in a response to exposure to individuals experiencing
trauma such as “compassion fatigue”, “vicarious trauma”, “burnout” , “stress” and “post
traumatic stress disorder”. While researchers have known about STS for several decades, it has
only recently garnered national attention as an issue to be addressed due to its effect on the
person experiencing it. The U.S. Department of Education (2012) indicates that STS can impact
a person’s physical, emotional, psychological, cognitive and professional attributes. Teachers
working in schools are exposed to children and adolescents who have experienced a plethora of
trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, more than 10 million
children in the United States endure the trauma of abuse, violence, natural disasters, and other
adverse events (NCTSN). And according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in
2012 there were about 1,364,900 nonfatal victimizations of students ages 12-18 at school
(NCES). Teachers are directly impacted by the students who are experiencing such alarming
rates of trauma and yet the study of secondary traumatic stress is in its “infancy” and there are
few empirical studies to be analyzed (Motta, 2012). A population that has not been investigated
in the STS research literature is school personnel (Borntrager et. al., 2012). Therefore, this study
will examine how teachers may experience STS in their school settings.
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Exploring STS in teachers is important to investigate because it could potentially help to
understand how teachers may actually develop ways to mitigate its prevalence. The research
suggests there are specific circumstances that could make a person susceptible to STS such as
people who care deeply for others, working with traumatized individuals, struggling with
separating work from leisure or perhaps being overly empathetic. However, just because these
conditions may persist in a person, does not necessarily mean it will lead to experiences with
STS. Many people endure traumatic events with minimal disruption at work or in their personal
lives (Bonanno, 2008). Thus, this literature review will identify the types of mediating variables
that could potentially mitigate the prevalence of STS and other associated phenomenon.
Although much of the research on the relationships between personality characteristics and stress
is devoted to primary victims of stress (Marius & Mairean, 2015), there are studies out there that
consider such variables in the context of secondary traumatic stress.
The focus of this chapter will be a literature review that undergirds the overall premise of
the study, which is to explore the prevalence and mitigating variables of secondary traumatic
stress in K-12 educators. Three research questions will help formulate the literature:
Q1: What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting??
Q2: How does STS manifest in teachers and others working in helping professions?
Q3: Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS?
Finally, a conceptual framework for the study is presented and an overview of why these
research questions are important to explore.
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Phenomena Associated With Secondary Traumatic Stress
The following phenomena are associated with the direct and indirect effects of exposing
oneself to people who have been traumatized: burnout, stress, vicarious trauma, compassion
fatigue, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and STS. Each has similarities and yet there are
some distinguishable differences amongst them, which is the focus of the next section of the
review. Here, a definition of each condition is provided and how it manifests in the individual
experiencing it. Burnout will be presented first. Cieslak (2014) suggests that burnout and other
results of secondary trauma are moderately related because of the different theoretical
frameworks between the two. In their meta-analysis of the literature, they indicate that burnout
may be a consequence of secondary exposure to trauma. Stress in teachers will then be explored
and its similarities with STS and other conditions. Next, a deeper understanding of vicarious
trauma and compassion fatigue will be presented. Compassion fatigue appears to be the
emotional and even cognitive consequences of exposure to secondary trauma and thus important
to review (Cieslak et al, 2014). The condition most closely related to compassion fatigue and
STS is PTSD, which will be further examined in this review. PTSD symptomologies mirror
those found in individuals experiencing STS such as thought intrusion, avoidance and hyper-
arousal (Ursano et. al., 2009). Finally, in this section, a thorough review of the literature on STS
will be synthesized. This will include a foundational understanding of STS, how it relates to
each of the conditions mentioned above and how it affects teachers and others in helping
professions. The purpose for including a review of others in helping professions is due to the
discovery that there is a lack of research on the impact of STS on teachers and therefore
presenting reviews of its impact on other similar professions is necessary and thus why this study
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will set out to determine how or if STS is present in K-12 educators working in a trauma exposed
setting.
Burnout
Unlike compassion fatigue or vicarious trauma, burnout can be the result of feeling
overwhelmed for a long period of time in the workplace. While it has characteristics that
resemble STS, “vicarious trauma” and “compassion fatigue”, it is a little different and important
to distinguish. Burnout refers to the exhaustion and disconnection that employees can
experience when job satisfaction is low and they feel powerless and overwhelmed. Burnout can
happen to anyone in any workplace — a restaurant, a real estate office, a classroom or even a
factory (Mathieu, 2014). Maslach, Schaufell and Leiter (2001) refer to burnout as a response to
chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job. They further go on to describe burnout
as a situation that involves feelings of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished
personal accomplishment at work. While burnout is somewhat different than compassion fatigue
and vicarious trauma, all three share a common theme which is the impact each has on the
emotional state of the individual experiencing it. The research studies on teachers experiencing
any one of these conditions is limited, however Mearns and Cain (2003) identified the
consequences of stress in teachers are burnout, physical and emotional distress and leaving the
profession. This would seem to indicate that burnout is a result of stress suffered by teachers and
would appear to have negative consequences on the person experiencing it. More closely related
to overall work atmosphere than exposure to unique conditions within the work environment
(such as student stories of trauma), burnout can appear to cause feelings of being overwhelmed
and exhausted. However, burnout distinguishes itself from STS in that burnout generally
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emerges over time and is often not just the direct result of exposure to traumatic stories but to
overwhelming caseloads, occupational stress and feeling powerless.
Stress
Stress is also a very real condition teacher’s face in schools. For teachers, stress can be
described as a negative emotional experience triggered by a teacher’s perception that their work
environment constituted a threat to their well-being (Kryriacou, 2001). In a recent 2012 survey
conducted by MetLife which measured percentages of teachers who feel stress “every day” or
“almost every day”, 51% indicated “yes” (MetLife, 2012). Additionally, in their study of 600
teachers, Austin, Shay and Muncer (2005) indicate that work-related stress was found to be the
most prevalent stress among the teachers. In a 2011 nationwide survey of 1,201 K-12 teachers,
several sources of stress were identified as being the most challenging. These challenges range
from “feeling over committed at work” to “having little time to relax” or “always feeling
accountable” (Richards, 2011). These types of co-occurring situations, the school environment
and a teacher’s perception of how they feel, can influence a teacher’s ability to work effectively.
At the individual level, accumulated stress can lead teachers to burnout (Gold & Roth, 1993).
This can also occur over a period of time. In their longitudinal study of over 200 teachers, Burke
and Greenglass (1995) found that work stressors were correlated to burnout one year later.
Mearns and Cain (2003) identified that consequences of stress in teachers are burnout, physical
and emotional distress and leaving the profession. In sum, stress is a very real concern for
teachers and administrators and would appear to have long lasting effects on teacher attrition and
performance. Additionally, stress and burnout share another common theme which is they each
seem to persist over time. There are now two emerging commonalities to each of the phenomena
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thus far described: each have either an emotional impact on the individual experiencing it and/or
they are temporal in existence.
Vicarious Trauma
The term vicarious trauma was coined by researchers who noticed that those in a helping
profession were often profoundly affected by their exposure to indirect trauma (Mathieu, 2014).
Vicarious trauma can be described as the “emotional residue of exposure that counselors have
from working with people as they are hearing their stories and become witnesses to the pain, fear
and terror that trauma survivors have endured” (APA, 2011). It is not just limited to counselors,
others working in the helping profession, including teachers may experience vicarious trauma.
According to Lucas (2007) working closely with a child who has experienced a trauma exposes
teachers and caregivers to that same trauma. Vicarious trauma also refers to harmful changes
that occur in professionals’ view of themselves, others, and the world as a result of exposure to
the graphic and/or traumatic material of their clients (Baird & Kracen, 2006). Therefore, it
distorts cognition in five areas, namely: trust, esteem, intimacy, and control with each
representing a psychological need (Baird & Kracen, 2006). In summary, vicarious trauma is a
condition that occurs when individuals are exposed to listening to and witnessing the stories of
other individuals who have been directly exposed to a traumatic event. Collectively, this can
impact individuals in multiple ways: emotionally; physically; cognitively and psychologically.
Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue is an emotional state with detrimental psychological and physical
consequences that result from acute or prolonged care giving of people riddled by intense trauma
or suffering. Caregivers unconsciously absorb the distress, anxiety, fears and trauma of the
person they are working with (Bush, 2009). For some, compassion fatigue brings forth other
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symptomologies such as the physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion coupled with acute
emotional pain (Pferring & Gilley, 200). There are certain professional settings where
compassion fatigue in an individual may arise, such as professionals in helping professions who
listen to client stories of traumatic events (Alkema, Linton & Davies, 2008). Symptoms of
compassion fatigue may have a rapid onset and can be related to one particular event or long-
term exposure to many traumatic stories (Alkema, Linto & Davies, 2008). This is important in
that it appears compassion fatigue can be abruptly pervasive or present debilitating conditions
over time. Moreover, compassion fatigue can have significant harmful and emotional effects
(Hamilton, 2008) to the person experiencing it and can be costly from an administrative
standpoint, as it is expensive and inefficient to replace staff due to the effects of such fatigue
(Hamilton, 2008). Overall, it appears compassion fatigue can be linked to individuals in the
helping profession and can have somatic and emotional effects on the person experiencing it.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Perhaps the most closely related phenomenon to STS is PTSD. In fact, the American
Psychological Association recently published its 5
th
edition of the Diagnostic Statistics Manual
and classifies STS as PTSD (APA, 2013). Like all diagnoses, the DSM-V classification of STS
as PTSD is not met without controversy and due to its limited shelf life, this review will not
devote time debating the merits of this newly categorized condition. However, PTSD has been
described as a severe and prolonged reaction to a distressing event (Reed, Fazel & Goldring,
2012). Individuals experiencing PTSD relive their traumatic events through intrusive thoughts,
flashbacks and nightmares (Reed et. al., 2012). These symptoms, specifically intrusive thoughts,
are one example of how PTSD is closely linked with STS. While PTSD is often associated with
military veterans, doctors estimate that American civilians have a 5% - 10% chance of
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developing PTSD in their lifetime (Simon, 2012). Like STS, PTSD presents with several
characteristics such as hyper-arousal (insomnia, anger outbursts and hyper-vigilance), avoidance
(detachment, numbness and withdrawal) and re-experiencing (unwelcome and disruptive
thoughts causing interference with concentration and functioning) and thus can severely impact
personal relationships, employment and personal satisfaction in life (Simon, 2012). Because of
its direct correlation to STS, it is important to consider just how PTSD manifests and occurs in
individuals working in helping professions.
While there were no recent studies on the effects of PTSD on actual teachers, a few
studies did examine its effects on others in helping professions. In a study of police, fire and
emergency service workers, the prevalence of PTSD ranged from 6%- 32% (Javidi &
Yadollahie, (2012). Clearly a limitation to this study is the broad percentage range and its
specificity to a particular profession. However, it does indicate the very real existence of PTSD
and its emergence in people working with others. Alden, Regambal and Laposa (2008) studied
emergency workers in hospitals and found that those who witnessed a traumatic event, even
though they were not directly associated with the trauma, had experiences with PTSD. This
indicates a close marriage with STS since the study describes how PTSD manifests in a person
who indirectly experienced a trauma; the primary trait of STS. Lastly, in perhaps one of the
largest studies of its kind, Breslau, Chilcoat, Kessler and Davis (1999) examined the influence of
previous exposure to trauma to the risk of PTSD from a subsequent trauma in a survey of 2,181
individuals 18–45 years of age in the Detroit. Among other research questions, they specifically
focused on whether previous exposure to trauma increases the risk of PTSD and it did find that
subjects with previous exposure to trauma were more likely to experience symptoms associated
with PTSD than respondents who had no prior exposure to trauma. This is an important finding
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for the current study since Hensel, Ruiz, Finney and Dewa (2015) conducted a meta-analysis of
empirical studies and found that personal trauma history was positively related to STS in all
studies reviewed. Hensel et al. (2015) also found that STS symptoms were consistent with
PTSD symptoms such as intrusion, avoidance and hyper-arousal. These were in large part a
result of empirical studies exploring the use of the Professional Quality of Life Scale (Stamm,
2005) and The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (Bride et al., 2004), both of which will be
utilized in this study.
In summary, research suggests that STS and PTSD mirror one another in manifestation
and Hensel et al (2015) suggest if severe enough, STS is a result of PTSD. Studies show that
PTSD can emerge in just about anyone who has been either directly or indirectly associated with
a traumatic event and that it can have short-term or long term effects on the individual
experiencing it. This review will now turn to STS, the primary focus of the study.
Secondary Traumatic Stress
STS has become a way to define the immediate impact of the effect of working with
traumatized persons. Charles Figley, one of the preeminent researchers of STS, describes it as
the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering person (Figley,
1983). Figley (1995) later goes on to refer to STS as the behaviors and emotions resulting from
knowing about a traumatizing event experienced by a significant other. Huggard (2003)
describes STS as the response that can occur as a result of knowing or helping a traumatized or
suffering person. This becomes significant in the work place because “professional helpers who
provide support to children and youth with trauma may themselves be at risk for the negative
consequences of trauma symptoms, simply through their continued exposure to their clients’
trauma narratives” (Borntrager et al., 2012, p.2). Specifically, individuals may experience
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intrusive thoughts and imagery, numbing, avoidance and hyper arousal (Borntrager et al., 2012).
Hensel et al (2015) found that in their meta-analysis of the 38 studies of groups who experienced
indirect trauma, including school personnel, several factors were identified as significant for risk
of STS such as personal trauma and occupational exposure. Specifically, occupational exposure
indicated the amount of time working with traumatized individuals than the actual number of
traumatized individuals. This is important for this study since it suggests that a teacher’s
continuous exposure to traumatized students may bring about STS, however the analysis did not
specify how many teachers were studied and did not define “school personnel” and is therefore a
question this current study will specially address. Clearly there is a need to consider STS as a
very real condition that can impact persons working in helping professions; like teachers in
school settings. “As the field of traumatic stress studies has grown, it has become increasingly
apparent that the effects of traumatic events extend beyond those directly affected” (Bride,
Yegedis & Figley, 2004, p.27). STS seems to permeate individuals in profound ways that cannot
be ignored. It manifests across several dimensions, including but not limited to: cognition;
emotion; behavior and professionalism.
Commonalities within the Relationship of STS and Other Associated Phenomena
This review began by defining and interpreting such conditions as burnout, stress,
vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, PTSD and STS. The studies reviewed here suggest there
is a relationship between STS and each of the aforementioned terminology, specifically PTSD
and that STS may be the result of PTSD (Hensel, 2015). Risk factors associated with STS such
one’s own personal trauma history or helping others who are traumatized also appear in the
literature (Figley, 1995; Huggard, 2003). However, there still seems to be some areas for further
exploration between each condition and their associated risk factors, specifically for educators in
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K-12 settings since working closely with a child who has experienced a trauma exposes teachers
and caregivers to that same trauma, which can lead to burnout and teacher turnover (Lucas,
2007). This will be one focus of the study, but not the sole focus. Another area to research is
exactly how STS presents itself in teachers who may be experiencing it. Since much of the
literature describes how STS can manifest, but it is extremely relevant for this study to explore
empirical data that suggests it actually exists.
In their study of 28 school personnel in a southern California high school, VanBergeijk
and Sarmiento (2006) revealed that teachers experienced the following STS indicators: intrusive
or recurring images; isolation; sense of failure; and guilt. In this study, approximately three-
fourths of the sample showed varying degrees of STS. However, this study was qualitative and a
specific measurement of STS was never actually obtained by using a robust rating scale, for
instance. Often qualitative data elicits mixed interpretations and this particular study may not
have produced findings that are generalizable to the broader population. Yet, it is significant
since this study will explore school teachers and the article does suggest that school personnel do
report experiences related to STS.
In a more recent study of 229 school staff across six schools in the northwest, Borntrager,
et al., (2012) indicated school staff had experienced “very high levels” of STS. Approximately
75% of the sample responded with occasionally or more frequently to questions asking about
experiences with “intrusion” (thoughts), “avoidance” and “arousal”. Lastly, this study found that
of the 300 school staff members, results on secondary trauma reactions clearly demonstrated that
school personnel are experiencing a great deal of STS and exposure to traumatized youth in their
jobs. The unintended consequence of this study yields something vitally important to this
study’s area of focus in that it illuminates the need for more research on exploring STS in
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teachers, since as to date it is really the only study examining STS in public school teachers.
However, STS is not just limited to those working in traditional schools. Hatcher, Bride, Oh,
King and Catrette (2011) found that 92% of juvenile justice teachers responded that they
themselves have experienced some degree of fear or helplessness in response to the trauma
reported by students. Among the arousal symptoms that are associated with STS, 41.5% of the
workers reported being irritable and having sleep disturbances. Additionally, 61% described
having “intrusive thoughts” about the traumatized students they work with (Hatcher, et. al,
2011). The Hatcher study had a few limitations in that teachers self-selected to be enrolled in the
research, which could perhaps indicate they already felt they had high levels of STS. And,
replication and generalizability to the larger population is limited – like many of the studies
conducted on this topic. Although it was juvenile justice teachers, the study does have
significance because it explored and subsequently found that STS is prevalent in another
discipline of educators. In summary, the research on STS in teachers is fairly new and not that
extensive. The literature that does exist describes how STS impacts teachers profoundly and
how it can interrupt their ability to maintain satisfying personal and professional lives.
STS in Other Helping Professions
Given the seemingly dearth sample of studies exploring STS in educators, it was
important to determine if STS exists in other helping professions. The research suggests that it
does. In a study of 282 master’s level social workers (including school social workers), Bride
(2007) found that 40.5% of respondents indicated they thought about their work with traumatized
clients without “intending to”. Not only did social workers have intrusive thought patterns about
their clients, 31.6% reported “avoiding” their clients who were traumatized (Bride, 2007);
avoidance being another symptom of STS (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Overall, this
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study revealed that 70.2% of the social workers had experienced at least one STS symptom.
Child welfare workers are also exposed to tragic and traumatizing stories from children and are
not immune to STS, especially when they themselves have a trauma history. In their study of
166 child welfare workers in the southeastern United States, (Gardell & Harris, 2003) found that
personal experiences with childhood trauma increased the risk of STS. Social workers are not the
only individuals experiencing STS and several studies suggest symptomologies of STS manifest
in a plethora of helping professions.
Persons working in fields that require a sense of empathy, understanding and emotional
fortitude do their work because it has personal and professional meaning to them. They often put
others first and that requires listening to stories of trauma and survival. Domestic violence
workers are such people and studies suggest they also experience STS. In a qualitative study of
domestic violence counselors in Perth, Australia, Iliffe and Steed (2000) interviewed their study
participants and discovered that many had multiple symptoms of STS including visual imagery
of traumatic stories, feelings of sadness, feeling emotionally drained and isolation. Emergency
nurses are also exposed to traumatic stories from their patients and like social workers and
domestic violence counselors, they too experience symptoms of STS. Gomez and Rutledge
(2008) studied a sample of over 60 emergency nurses from California hospitals and learned that
over half reported feeling irritable and half reported avoiding their patients. The researchers
concluded that the majority of nurses in their sample reported feelings of emotional exhaustion.
In another study exploring the impact of STS, Buchanan, Anderson, Uhlemann and
Horwitz (2006) surveyed 280 mental health workers living in Canada to determine if they had
experiences with STS. Over half of the respondents in this study (between 51% - 55%) reported
feeling the following symptoms related to STS: listening to clients stories is personally
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traumatizing; the need to distance themselves from their clients; and client’s graphic descriptions
of traumatic events is personally traumatizing. However, somewhat surprisingly given the
symptoms just described, only 34% indicated they were currently experiencing secondary
trauma. Lastly, in one of the most profound studies conducted, Beaton, Murphy, Johnson and
Nemuth (2004) conducted a longitudinal field study of 261 fire fighters in the Pacific Northwest
and their levels of STS prior to and after 9/11. They found that both avoidance and intrusive
secondary traumatic stress responses “spiked” significantly in the one week post the event. The
researchers could not identify another historical event in the week after 9/11 and this comparing
levels of STS prior to and afterwards, suggest a “reasonable casual inference” that 9/11 created
heightened levels of STS in firefighters one week after the event; firefighters who lived and
worked over 2000 miles away.
Thus far, this reviewed has examined the similarities of STS with other sequelae, the risk
factors for STS and the impact of STS on teachers and other caregivers working in helping
professions. The third research question for this study is to look at what factors may contribute to
any existence of STS in teachers who are seemingly at risk. This section of the review will
examine literature on personal characteristics that might prevent or impede the on-set of STS,
whether coping and social support - two suggested methods for reducing stress - actually
mitigate STS and if individuals actually engage in ways to ease the impact of STS.
Mediating and Moderating Variables that Minimize the Risk of STS
Marius and Mairean (2015) set out to explore the relationship between personality
characteristics, social support and secondary traumatic stress in medical staff. Social support
was important to consider, as Bovier, Chamot & Perneger, (2004) found that high levels of social
support are positively correlated with mental health in their study of over 1,200 university
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students. The Marius and Mairean’s (2015) study yielded some significant findings. Extraverted
individuals experienced low levels of intrusion and avoidance, both symptomologies of STS
(Borntrager, et al., 2012). DeLongis and Holtzman (2005) also looked at extraversion and found
that highly extraverted individuals are more effective and active “copers”. Additionally, they
found that highly extraverted people tend to respond more empathetically to children. This is
important for the current study because being empathetic is a risk factor for STS and that people
experiencing STS may prefer isolation and/or avoidance, some of the behavioral patterns
frequently associated with people who are not extraverts. Marius and Mairean (2015) also
found that individuals who perceive to have high levels of social support also had low levels of
intrusion and avoidance, again both manifestations of STS. However, their study found there
was no significant relationship correlating emotional support to low levels of STS. Yet, support
was found to be a predictive factor of coping strategies. As mentioned earlier, DeLongis and
Holtzman (2005) suggest that when people feel supported, they use a greater variety of coping
mechanisms. This is important to consider for an individual experiencing STS who becomes
rigid or inflexible in their thinking and unwilling to consider alternatives for coping with the STS
they may be experiencing. However, to completely understand the effect of coping mechanisms
on an individual, the DeLongis and Holtzman (2005) study must consider a more vast pool of
coping outcomes and their holistic effects than merely a person’s emotional and physical well-
being.
The Marius and Mairen (2015) study also had a few limitations. Firstly, the majority of
participants were female nurses and thus a challenge to generalize it to the larger population,
specifically teachers. Secondly, it only explored very specific forms of social support, not taking
into consideration other support networks such as support groups, professional debriefing
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sessions or opportunities to share-out feelings – all of which were suggested as ways to improve
the well being of people experiencing STS. In summary, it seems that extraverted individuals
find ways to reduce the occurrence of very specific STS symptoms like isolation and may have a
greater awareness of coping mechanisms. However, some research indicates that social support
does not seem to be a preventive factor in reducing STS.
Other research suggests that social support and self-efficacy can perhaps be mediators in
the association between STS and a concept known as “secondary traumatic growth” which is the
growth in oneself, such as a person’s positive outlook on life (Shoji et al., 2014). In their study
of military personnel, Shoji et al., (2014) suggest that social support and self-efficacy are more
likely to mediate the STS – secondary traumatic growth relationship. In other words, self-
efficacious people, even when affected by STS, promote their own social support networks
which can actually enhance secondary traumatic growth. Again however, this study only looked
at military personnel and thus not generalizable to teachers, per se. Additionally, this study had a
fairly small sample size and while it was longitudinal, there were only two points of interaction
for study participants. However, the study did highlight how social support and self-efficacy are
mediating variables between STS and “secondary traumatic growth” (Shoji et. al, 2014). Lastly,
Pack (2013) studied the presence of “protective factors” and “vicarious resilience” in exploring
vicarious trauma in counselors and the strategies they developed to maintain their effectiveness.
The author found that some counselors framed life in new ways, which helped to maintain
personal relationships in the face of working with traumatized clients. Listening to inspiring
stories of clients also instilled hope in counselors. Collegial support and an organizational
environment that allows for input on policies and procedures and collaboration were also found
to be protective factors. In sum, the Pack study suggests some of the mediating factors that
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contribute to alleviating some of the symptomologies counselors with vicarious trauma
experience. Important here, is that the protective factors to help mitigate the impact of vicarious
trauma (collegiality, maintenance of personal relationships and framing new outlooks on life)
may ironically be impacted by a person experiencing STS.
Theorists exploring STS suggest varying strategies to reduce levels of disruption and to
minimize the impact of STS such as peer consultation, professional training and self-care (Bober
& Regehr, 2006). However, Bober and Regehr (2006) set out to explore if in fact these strategies
work and do professionals actually engage in them. In their study of over 250 mental health
counselors, the authors found a significant discovery that is there was no association between
times spent engaging in leisure, self-care and supervision and levels of trauma symptoms. Thus,
it does not appear that engaging in any coping strategy recommended for reducing distress has an
impact on immediate traumatic symptoms. This has important implications since much of the
literature suggests these strategies are ways to reduce the effects of STS.
Conceptual Framework
Several theories could be used to understand an individual’s reaction to traumatic events,
such as Martin Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness or Hobart Mowrer’s two factor theory
of learning and behavior. Seligman’s theory considers how the effects of uncontrollability
impact a person’s emotions, motivations and cognitions (Maier & Seligman, 1975). Essentially,
when humans experience uncontrollable events, it often leads to deficits in our motivational
drive, our cognitive abilities and our emotional mind states. For purposes of this study, the
author has chosen not to use this theoretical framework because it is somewhat outdated and has
a non-strengths based association to it. This study wants to explore how teachers experience
STS and variables that help mitigate its impact, not enhance it. Mowrer’s two factor theory of
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learning and behavior explores how people learn through the emotional reactions to a
traumatizing event (Smith & Suda, 1999). Danger signs from a previous traumatic event could
lead to avoidance behavior, thus reducing the fear of that event which causes our thoughts and/or
emotions to be conditioned (Smith and Suda, 1999). While avoidant behavior is a sign of STS, it
is one such characteristic and Mowrer’s two factor theory does not account for other signs such
as isolation or thought intrusion.
Therefore, this study will be situated in “A Conceptual Framework for the Impact of
Traumatic Experiences” by Carlson and Dalenberg (2000). This framework identifies responses
that persist after a traumatic event across five domains: cognitive, affective, behavioral, and
physiological and multiple modes. The cognitive dimension includes a person who experiences
intrusive thoughts or images; the affective dimension includes anxiety, anger and isolation; the
behavioral component includes avoidance of trauma related situations; the physiological traits
include reactivity to trauma reminders; and multiple modes refers to nightmares or flashbacks.
Carlson and Dalenberg (2000) contend that after a trauma, people may experience one or more of
the symptoms listed due to the presence of a “conditioned stimulus” that has been associated
with the trauma. These symptoms can either be attributed to re-experiencing elements of a
traumatic event or avoiding so as to be relieved from a trauma related event. They further
espouse there are secondary responses related to a traumatic event such as depression,
aggression, impaired self-esteem and difficulty forming interpersonal relationships.
This framework is relevant to this study because it articulates how traumatic experiences
manifest into symptomologies very similar to STS such as avoidance, isolation and challenges
maintaining relationships. This framework suggests that events do not have to be so horrific,
such as those involving serious injury or witnessing death or violence, to be potentially traumatic
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(Carlson & Dalenberg, 2000). STS is often not a result of life-threatening circumstances, but the
result of indirect exposure to traumatic events that may have been life-threatening for the person
experiencing it.
Conclusion
The research suggests that STS can impact those who care for others in the following
ways: isolating oneself from others; avoiding certain situations; emotional exhaustion; having
intrusive thoughts and becoming irritable (Borntrager et. al., 2012). There are various
phenomena that are closely associated with STS: compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout,
stress and most intimately post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Figley (1995) and
Huggard (2003) risk factors include exposure to working with clients who have experienced a
traumatic event(s), personal history with trauma, caring deeply for others and perceived and
actual work and social support. This review of the literature yielded some interesting findings
which suggest that throughout the last few decades, terminology associated with STS has been
interchangeable which is not necessarily problematic but does make it challenging to
differentiate. However, common themes have emerged. Individuals experiencing STS, like the
other terminologies, are likely to work in helping professions. They have a true sense of caring
for others and often work with students or clients who have experienced some sort of trauma,
devastation or hardship. People experiencing STS have a litany of symptoms that are often acute
in nature and can affect their emotion, physical, psychological, interpersonal and social well-
being. If not, addressed, STS can have debilitating consequences on the person experiencing it.
Individuals, who may be at risk for STS, may not always experience some of its
symptomologies. Humans are resilient. We find ways to “bounce back” quickly from hardship
and may surround ourselves with the necessary coping mechanisms and social supports that
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prevent the on-set of STS symptomologies. There are several questions that seem to remain
unanswered. The lack of literature exploring STS among educators is alarming. In order to
contribute to this gap, this study will seek to answer the following research questions:
Q1: What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting?
Q2: How does STS manifest in teachers and others working in helping professions?
Q3: Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS?
An exhaustive literature review revealed only one study that explored STS in public
school personnel. While studies exploring STS in other professions are found throughout the
literature, teachers have not been the sole foci and hence one of the purposes of this study,
Research Question 2, “how does STS manifest in teachers”. There also seems to be some
confusion on the juxtaposition of STS and the other associated phenomena therefore this study
will explore Research Question 1, what is the relationship between risk factors and secondary
traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress
disorder among teachers in a trauma exposed setting. Lastly, research suggests that while STS
emerges in varying ways for some individuals; meaning they may present with one or more
symptoms, others may never experience a single indicator that something is happening for them.
Therefore, this study will address Research Question 3, which is to identify if there are variables
that exist in school settings that mitigate the prevalence of STS in the teachers who work there.
This study is important to explore because we want healthy teachers in our classrooms.
This includes emotional health and mental well-being. Due to some of the presenting ways STS
can manifest in a person, teachers could be limited in their roles of being effective. Stronge,
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Ward, Tucker and Hindman (2007) found that effective teachers were more organized with
efficient routines, “cared” more and had higher “motivation” and “enthusiasm” than ineffective
teachers. Additionally, Harris, Rutledge, Ingle and Thompson (2010) interviewed Principals in a
Florida school district and found that the most common personal characteristic that a Principal
looks for in a teacher is “caring”. There is general consensus that STS can potentially emerge
through an individual’s work in helping others and can hinder a person’s ability to live healthy
and productive lives, both personally and professionally. This is problematic. Teachers who
experience STS could perhaps suffer from emotional exhaustion or experience social inequities.
When this happens, students in classrooms are impacted and their support systems could become
comprised, support systems being one of the potentially mitigating factors to reducing STS.
Socially and emotionally competent teachers can help create classroom environments where
students feel supported, cared for and are motivated to learn (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). This
is important to address because teachers who experience emotional exhaustion, one result of
STS, can sometimes leave the profession or create such structured classroom environments that
become rigid or contentious (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009).
For therapists, child welfare workers, case managers, and other helping professionals
involved in the care of traumatized children and their families, the essential act of listening to
trauma stories may take an emotional toll that compromises professional functioning and
diminishes quality of life. Educators are very much the same. Children spend 7-8 hours per day
in schools. Teachers are often the first personnel in supporting students experiencing a crisis or
trauma on campus and there has been a lack of recognition and services for teachers who may
hear about a crisis or ongoing traumas of students but do not directly experience such events
(Hydon et. al., 2015). Hensel et al. (2015) further suggest that time spent working with non-
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traumatized clients may help regulate a person’s likelihood they will experience STS. Individual
and supervisory awareness of the impact of this indirect trauma exposure is a basic part of
protecting the health of the worker and ensuring that children consistently receive the best
possible care from those who are committed to helping them. (National Child Traumatic Stress
Network). Teachers are no different and the author hopes this study will help examine an area of
exploration that has largely been unchartered.

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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this study is to explore how teachers in K-12 settings experience STS and
the existence of variables that may mitigate the prevalence of STS. Individuals exposed to the
traumatic stories of others, especially in helping professions, may make them vulnerable to STS
in that it develops over multiple interactions with traumatized individuals (Galek et. al., 2011).
There is often an interchange of terminologies to describe STS, such as compassion fatigue,
vicarious trauma or PTSD which can lead to confusion when distinguishing amongst them.
Finally, very few studies have examined or measured levels of STS in K-12 teachers and even
rarer still, are studies that explore conditions that might be present in an environment to prevent
someone from experiencing STS. The study research questions are outlined as follows:
Q1: What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting?
Q2: How does STS manifest in teachers and others working in helping profession?
Q3: Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS?
Remarkably there is a dearth of literature exploring STS in teachers, yet the impact of
STS on a teachers’ personal or professional life can be devastating (Hydon et. al., 2015). It
appears that one quantitative study measuring levels of STS in teachers was conducted by
Borntrager et al., (2012) and is the only study the author found over the last two decades. Over
the last two decades, studies exploring STS in teachers have been almost non-existent, which
could merit a qualitative study since qualitative studies involve understanding a concept where
minimal research has been conducted (Creswell, 2009). There are however multiple studies that
examine STS in other helping professions and in that regard, the research is not quite as novel
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and thus this study will seek to add to the field by examining teachers and STS. The author will
administer a brief on-line survey for dissemination to teachers that will document their levels of
indirect trauma exposure and subsequent levels of stress, burnout, and work satisfaction. Due to
the nature of the survey instrumentation and exploratory scope, this will be a quantitative study.
Often qualitative research is appropriate for, but not limited to, conducting ethnographic studies,
exploring case studies or engaging in narrative research whereas quantitative studies usually
involve information gathering through the use of a survey (Creswell, 2009). A survey design
provides a quantitative description of attitudes or opinions (Creswell, 2009) of teachers in the
study and surveys are excellent ways to explain feelings and behaviors in individuals (Fink,
2012).
Sample and Population
The sample in this study will be teachers from a public urban school district in Southern
California. The district employees over 500 teachers from diverse backgrounds and is situated in
a middle class community. There are over 17,000 students attending over 30 different K-12
schools. The district is committed to student achievement and provides intervention services to
both students and families. The district provides environments that enhance the development of
the wellness and welfare of students and teachers, creating a district of schools that is committed
to positive school climates. All teachers within the district will be eligible to participate in the
study, thus providing random purposeful sampling (Sandelowski, 2000). The unit of analysis will
be the entire district and the population of K-12 school teachers that have participated in the
study. In Chapter Two, the author described how teachers or others in helping professions can
be impacted by STS, such as avoiding certain places, having thought intrusions or trauma
imagery, or constantly thinking about or being reminded of the students they teach (Borntrager et
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al.; 2012). All of these conditions can be experienced through indirect exposure to a traumatic
event. The author also described research that suggests that there are possible variables that
mitigate STS such as having social support networks or engaging in self-care. The teachers for
this study have been either directly or indirectly exposed to various traumatic events. In the
2012-2013 school years, two 12th grade students fell while hiking nearby their particular school,
one fell to her death and the other was hospitalized. In the 2013-2014 school years, the district
had a 9th grade suicide on campus; and in this year alone, there has been school staff affected by
tragedies, one was victim of a stabbing and another lost their life due to a domestic violence
incident. Each of these experiences put teachers at risk for STS. However, while these
conditions may put an educator at risk for STS, research suggests that school districts with
children who have been traumatized may also put those working with those children at risk for
STS.
As previously mentioned, teachers who work in school settings with students who have
experienced some form of severe trauma or have trauma histories are subject to secondary
traumatic stress (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). In a study of over 1400 children and
adolescents, 25% reported witnessing or learning about a traumatic event (Costello, Erkanli,
Fairbank & Angold, 2002) and according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, more
than 10 million children in the United States endure the trauma of abuse, violence, natural
disasters and other adverse effects (NCTSN). Lastly, in 2012, there were over 1 million nonfatal
victimizations of students ages 12- 18 at school (NCES). Each of these alarming concerns put all
teachers at risk for STS, including the teachers for this unit of analysis.
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Instrumentation
The author will disseminate a survey to district school teachers that consists of general
demographic information, including items inquiring about secondary trauma exposure,
compassion satisfaction and fatigue, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. These are all aligned
with the research questions of the study: (1) exploring connectedness between STS, compassion
fatigue, vicarious trauma and PTSD; (2) measuring levels of STS in teachers: (3) identifying
potential mediating variables that mitigate the prevalence of STS. The survey is comprised of
two scales and is found in Appendix A:
(1) The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQol) developed by Stamm (2005), which
measures the negative effects of STS such as sleep difficulties, intrusive images, or
avoiding reminders of the person’s traumatic experiences. It is a 30-item self-report
measure that assesses risk of compassion fatigue (CF) – which has been used
interchangeably for STS, potential for compassion satisfaction (CS), and risk of burnout.
Alpha scores range from .72 (burnout) to .80 (CF) and .87 (CS), indicating adequate
internal consistency. The scale has good demonstrated construct validity, and there is
evidence that this version of the measure reduced the known co-linearity between
compassion fatigue and burnout (Stamm, 2005; 2009). This scale will help to measure
relationship between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue,
vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among teachers in a trauma
exposed setting and will also help to identify potential mediating variables that might
reduce the prevalence of STS.
(2) The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, & Figley, 2004)
measures such things as avoidance and arousal symptoms associated with indirect
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exposure to traumatic events. Respondents are instructed to read each item and indicate
how frequently the item was true for them in the past 7 days using a five choice, Likert-
type response format ranging from 1(never) to 5 (very often). The STSS is comprised of
three subscales: Intrusion, Avoidance and Arousal. Alpha scores range from .80
(intrusion) to .83 (arousal) to .87 (avoidance). The overall scale has an acceptable
reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93 (Bride et. al., 2004). This scale will directly
measure levels of STS in teachers. This scale was adapted for the study in that the
analysis only include selected subscale questions. The criteria for this was to increase the
reliability co-efficient for .7 and above. A more detailed explanation of this can be found
in Chapter Five.
Data Collection
The web-based survey will be taken in an on-line format and can be completed any time
during a two-week timeframe. Teachers will also be fully informed of the voluntary nature of
their participation in this study and they will be notified that their decision to participate or
decline participation will not have any impact on their employment status. The consent to
participate will be embedded in the introduction of the online survey; after reading an
introduction of the study if they respond consent to participation, they will be forwarded to the
survey. If they do not consent, the survey will end. The advantages to collecting data online are
the reduced respondent response time, cost effectiveness, data is easily accessible, and online
data collection allows researchers to capture additional response-set information (Granello and
Wheaton, 2004). A link to the survey will be established on a web based platform that is
accessible by all teachers within the district. The survey will be live for two weeks and an
identified school staff member will send out periodic reminders for the survey. All data
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collected will be stored in a secure database using SSL protocol to encrypt the survey data. This
provides for ideal security protection of data (Fink, 2013). Data will not be labeled with any
personal identifying information, or with a code that the author can link to a teacher’s personal
identifying information.
There are minimal risks to the participants for this one-time brief online survey.
Nonetheless, some participants may feel uncomfortable discussing their experience related to
secondary or even primary exposure to trauma. Although highly unlikely, for those teachers who
may need to talk with professionals or require psychological services as a consequence of
participating in this survey, the phone number of the Employee Assistance Program were
provided at the end of the survey and teachers will be encouraged to contact the program.
Data Analysis
Three research questions are being answered the data collected in this study. The first
research question explores the association between STS and other associated phenomena such as
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. Responses elicited
from teachers to questions on the Professional Quality of Life Scale will be coded in an excel
spread sheet with the actual teacher name de-identified. Responses will be coded per question,
per teacher, and uploaded into statistical software, SPSS, where statistical analysis will measure
levels of STS, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and PTSD and the association between each
of these phenomena. Through correlation analysis, the author will explore associations between
pairs of variables (Pallant, 2013) such as avoidance and thought intrusion (STS symptoms) and
work productivity and feeling worn out (compassion fatigue). The statistical analysis will also
examine sub-scales from both the Professional Quality of Life Survey and the Secondary
Traumatic Stress Scale and the correlations between how teachers respond to these sets of
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questions. The author may choose to use “forward selection” when performing this analysis since
some of the scale questions are similar and may be highly correlated; this step will help to
prevent collinearity since the study will use multiple regression analysis for RQ’s 2 and 3 (Elliot
& Woodward, 2007).
The second research question addresses the extent to which STS is manifested within the
lives of teachers. Embedded in the survey are questions from both the Secondary Traumatic
Stress Scale and the Life Events Scale which will measure levels of STS. Responses will be
coded in an excel spreadsheet and uploaded to SPSS for a multiple regression analysis. Since
each of these two scales has sub-scales, multiple regressions will provide the author information
regarding significant predictors to STS levels. (Pallant, 2013). The third research question will
examine if there are any factors that mitigate the prevalence of STS in teachers. The author will
focus on teacher responses to questions from the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Responses
will be coded and analyzed through SPSS using multiple regression (Pallant, 2013) to determine
the impact of factors such as isolation or avoidance on levels of STS and to examine the extent to
which variables such as social and emotional well-being can predict levels of STS.
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
In this chapter, a description of the sample population for the study will be presented,
including a detailed data analysis of the findings for each research questions. A brief summary is
also included. The original research questions for this study are:
Q1: What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting?
Q2: How does STS manifest in teachers and others working in helping professions?
Q3: Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS?
Participant Description
The population of this study was teachers in K-12 schools in the EUSD. There were a
total of 136 participants in the survey. A description of the purpose and content of the survey
was provided in the introduction, which informed participants that they were not required to
respond to any survey question in which they did not feel comfortable responding to and it may
be this reason that not all participants responded to each question. There were 131 responses for
gender as five cases were left blank. Randomly, two were assigned as male and three were
assigned female. The reason for this is that some research suggests that not including cases with
missing values could lead to problems (Johnson & Young, 2011). Additionally, in their
regression model of three random samples from the National Survey of Families and
Households, Johnson and Young (2011) found “considerable flexibility” in selecting options for
handling missing data. Age varied across the sample, with 20% between the age of 20 – 35; 73%
of the sample between age 36 - 60 and the remaining 7% over 61. Two cases were left blank so
both were assigned the mode of 36-40 years. Race also varied, 34% were Asian American, 32%
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White, 24% Latino/a, and less than 1% were African-American, Native American or Pacific
Islander. Eighty-four percent of the sample size worked in either a high school or an elementary
school with middle school staff at 12% and pre-K nearing 1%. Lastly, over 68% of the
participants had an MA; 23% had a BA/BS; 2.2% with an MSW and just under 1% with a
PHD/PSYD. All of these demographic results are presented in Table 1.
Table 1
Demographic Variables for All Participants
Variable n %
Gender
Female 98 72
Male 38 28
Total 136 100
Age (years)
20-25 2 1.5
26-30 15 11
31-35 10 7.4
36-40 39 28.7
41-45 21 15.4
46-50 15 11
51-55 11 8.1
56-60 14 10.3
61-65 9 6.6
Total 136 100
Race/Ethnicity
Asian American 47 34.6
White 44 32.4
Latino or Latin American
or Hispanic

33

24.3
Black or African
American
1 .7
Native American 1 .7
Other 10 7.4
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Table 1, continued
School type
High school 67 49.3
Elementary school 47 34.6
Middle school 16 11.8
Pre-kindergarten 1 .7
Other 6 4.4
Total 136 100
Degree level
MA 93 68.4
BA/BS 31 22.8
MSW 3 2.2
PHD/PSYD 1 .7
Other 8 5.9

Treatment of Data
The Welfare Gateway to Success program within the Excellent Unified School District
(EUSD) agreed to include STS survey questions in their annual School Climate Survey in March
2015. The survey was disseminated to district school teachers and staff with questions about
compassion satisfaction, burnout and STS symptoms of intrusion, avoidance and arousal and
overall levels of STS. The items originate from two standardized scales, the Professional
Quality of Life Scale (ProQol), Stamm (2005) and the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS),
(Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, & Figley, 2004); a description and the reliability of each instrument
was presented in Chapter Three. The reliability of these measures is presented in Table 2.
Table 2
Reliability of Scale for Study
Latent Variable Mean Variance
Std.
Deviation
N of
Items
Cronbach's
Alpha
STSS_Intrusion 3.960 2.138 1.463 3 0.678
STSS_Avoidance 10.710 16.458 4.057 7 0.839
STSS_Arousal 8.370 10.293 3.208 5 0.792
STSS_Total 23.040 63.080 7.942 15 0.909
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Table 2, continued
ProQOL_Compassion
Satisfaction 24.930 11.855 3.443 6 0.764
ProQOL_Burnout 24.860 10.640 3.262 6 0.721
ProQOL_Secondary
traumatic stress 28.780 26.144 5.113 10 0.706

Results Research Question One
RQ1: “What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting ”?
Through a correlation analysis, this research question was modified to examine the
association between secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, and burnout and STS
symptoms of arousal, intrusion and avoidance. Both vicarious trauma and post-traumatic stress
disorder are not measured in the scales utilized.
Results
There was a strong positive correlation between burnout and compassion satisfaction,
n=136, r = .667, p<.01 which indicates that as burnout increases, compassion satisfaction
increases. There were weaker, negative correlations between some of the variables. There was a
moderate weak correlation between compassion satisfaction and STS, n=136, r=.311, p<.01
indicating that as compassion satisfaction increased, STS decreased. For burnout and STS, there
was a strong weak correlation between the two variables, n=136, r=.403, p<.01. The results of
these analysis were conducted on participant responses from the ProQol questions. There were
no statistically significant results from conducting an analysis on responses from questions on
the STSS.
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Results Research Question Two
RQ2: “How does STS manifest in teachers and others working in helping professions ”?
For purposes of this study, this research question was modified to only examine teachers. To
specifically look at manifestations of STS, rates and levels of STS (as measured on the ProQol)
and intrusion, avoidance, arousal (as measured on the STSS) were analyzed.
Results
After a thorough analysis of the data, there were very minimal levels of STS in the
sample population, including low levels of each of its characteristics i.e. avoidance, intrusion and
arousal. Several ANOVA’s were conducted to determine statistical differences between
demographic variables and latent variables of STS and none were found. Frequencies of
participant response on the sub-scales in both the ProQol and STSS instruments are presented in
Tables 4 - 10. The Likert scale for the STSS is 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = occasionally, 4 = often,
5 = very often. The Likert scale for the ProQol is similar to that found on the STSS, but the
word “sometimes” is used rather than “occasionally”.
Intrusion. There are a total of five statements on the STSS that indicate “intrusion”.
The sum score of intrusion items can range from 5 – 25. However, to increase reliability of the
study, only three questions were analyzed whereby the sum score range for intrusion would be 3
– 15. Table 3 indicates frequencies of intrusion.
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Table 3
Frequencies of Intrusion as Measured on the STSS
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
0 1 .7 .7 .7
3 75 55.1 55.1 55.9
4 22 16.2 16.2 72.1
5 18 13.2 13.2 85.3
6 12 8.8 8.8 94.1
7 2 1.5 1.5 95.6
8 4 2.9 2.9 98.5
9 2 1.5 1.5 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

Avoidance. There are a total of seven statements on the STSS that indicate “avoidance”.
The sum score of avoidance items can range from 7 – 35. Table 4 indicates frequencies of
avoidance.
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Table 4
Frequencies of Avoidance as Measured on the STSS
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
0 1 .7 .7 .7
6 1 .7 .7 1.5
7 37 27.2 27.2 28.7
8 16 11.8 11.8 40.4
9 10 7.4 7.4 47.8
10 11 8.1 8.1 55.9
11 12 8.8 8.8 64.7
12 10 7.4 7.4 72.1
13 4 2.9 2.9 75.0
14 11 8.1 8.1 83.1
15 7 5.1 5.1 88.2
16 3 2.2 2.2 90.4
17 4 2.9 2.9 93.4
18 1 .7 .7 94.1
19 1 .7 .7 94.9
20 2 1.5 1.5 96.3
21 4 2.9 2.9 99.3
24 1 .7 .7 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

Arousal. There are a total of five statements on the STSS that indicate “arousal”. The
sum score of arousal items can range from 5 – 25. Table 5 indicates frequencies of arousal.
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Table 5
Frequencies of Arousal as Measured on the STSS

Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
0 1 .7 .7 .7
4 1 .7 .7 1.5
5 28 20.6 20.6 22.1
6 18 13.2 13.2 35.3
7 18 13.2 13.2 48.5
8 14 10.3 10.3 58.8
9 10 7.4 7.4 66.2
10 12 8.8 8.8 75.0
11 9 6.6 6.6 81.6
12 9 6.6 6.6 88.2
13 6 4.4 4.4 92.6
14 5 3.7 3.7 96.3
16 3 2.2 2.2 98.5
17 1 .7 .7 99.3
18 1 .7 .7 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

STS. There are a total of ifteen statements (used for analysis on this data set) that
indicate overall STS, per the three subscales for a sum score that ranges between 15 and 70.
Table 6 indicates frequencies of overall STS.
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Table 6
Frequencies of Overall STS as Measured on the STSS

Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
0 1 .7 .7 .7
14 1 .7 .7 1.5
15 20 14.7 14.7 16.2
16 9 6.6 6.6 22.8
17 9 6.6 6.6 29.4
18 14 10.3 10.3 39.7
19 5 3.7 3.7 43.4
20 7 5.1 5.1 48.5
21 7 5.1 5.1 53.7
22 3 2.2 2.2 55.9
23 3 2.2 2.2 58.1
24 7 5.1 5.1 63.2
25 5 3.7 3.7 66.9
26 3 2.2 2.2 69.1
27 6 4.4 4.4 73.5
28 5 3.7 3.7 77.2
29 2 1.5 1.5 78.7
30 4 2.9 2.9 81.6
31 3 2.2 2.2 83.8
32 4 2.9 2.9 86.8
34 5 3.7 3.7 90.4
35 1 .7 .7 91.2
36 2 1.5 1.5 92.6
37 2 1.5 1.5 94.1
38 1 .7 .7 94.9
39 2 1.5 1.5 96.3
40 2 1.5 1.5 97.8
41 1 .7 .7 98.5
45 1 .7 .7 99.3
49 1 .7 .7 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

Compassion Satisfaction. On the ProQol instrument, there are a total of 10 questions
that measure compassion satisfaction. If the sum of scores for compassion satisfaction is 22 or
less, a person’s compassion satisfaction is low. If the sum of scores is between 23 and 41, a
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person’s compassion satisfaction is average and if the sum of scores is above 42, a person has
high levels of compassion satisfaction. However, to increase reliability of compassion
satisfaction only 6 questions were used. Table 7 indicates frequencies of compassion
satisfaction.
Table 7
Frequencies of Compassion satisfaction as Measured on the ProQol

Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
14 1 .7 .7 .7
17 1 .7 .7 1.5
18 5 3.7 3.7 5.1
19 3 2.2 2.2 7.4
20 5 3.7 3.7 11.0
21 8 5.9 5.9 16.9
22 7 5.1 5.1 22.1
23 15 11.0 11.0 33.1
24 18 13.2 13.2 46.3
25 9 6.6 6.6 52.9
26 10 7.4 7.4 60.3
27 17 12.5 12.5 72.8
28 13 9.6 9.6 82.4
29 14 10.3 10.3 92.6
30 10 7.4 7.4 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

Burnout. There are a total of 10 questions that measure burnout. Similarly to how
compassion satisfaction is measured, the same sum totals hold true for burnout. Also, to increase
reliability of burnout as measured in this sample, only 6 questions were analyzed. Table 8
indicates frequencies of burnout.
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Table 8
Frequencies of Burnout as Measured on the ProQol

Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
10.00 1 .7 .7 .7
11.00 1 .7 .7 1.5
12.00 2 1.5 1.5 2.9
13.00 12 8.8 8.8 11.8
14.00 11 8.1 8.1 19.9
15.00 17 12.5 12.5 32.4
16.00 21 15.4 15.4 47.8
17.00 25 18.4 18.4 66.2
18.00 18 13.2 13.2 79.4
19.00 18 13.2 13.2 92.6
20.00 10 7.4 7.4 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

Secondary Traumatic Stress. There are a total of 10 questions used on the ProQol to
measure levels of STS and all 10 were analyzed for this study. Table 9 indicates frequencies of
STS.
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Table 9
Frequencies of STS as Measured on the ProQol

Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
17.00 1 .7 .7 .7
18.00 1 .7 .7 1.5
19.00 1 .7 .7 2.2
20.00 3 2.2 2.2 4.4
21.00 3 2.2 2.2 6.6
22.00 5 3.7 3.7 10.3
23.00 9 6.6 6.6 16.9
24.00 7 5.1 5.1 22.1
25.00 8 5.9 5.9 27.9
26.00 7 5.1 5.1 33.1
27.00 8 5.9 5.9 39.0
28.00 12 8.8 8.8 47.8
29.00 10 7.4 7.4 55.1
30.00 13 9.6 9.6 64.7
31.00 8 5.9 5.9 70.6
32.00 14 10.3 10.3 80.9
33.00 8 5.9 5.9 86.8
35.00 4 2.9 2.9 89.7
36.00 1 .7 .7 90.4
37.00 7 5.1 5.1 95.6
38.00 1 .7 .7 96.3
39.00 1 .7 .7 97.1
40.00 2 1.5 1.5 98.5
42.00 1 .7 .7 99.3
44.00 1 .7 .7 100.0
Total 136 100.0 100.0

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Results Research Question Three
RQ3: “Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS”?
Results
This study explored if STS, burnout and compassion satisfaction were present in teachers
within the Excellent Unified School District. Results from several analytical procedures did not
find significant results of STS or its associated symptoms of arousal, intrusion and withdrawal.
Therefore, this research question is a challenge to answer since the prevalence of STS was
almost non-existent to begin with and thus, measuring factors that reduce the risk of STS seems
improbable. Chapter Five will present some thoughts and ideas about how and why this may be
occurring in this school district that has certainly had its fair share of risk factors associated with
STS, as was described in previous chapters.
Summary
The results for each of the research questions have been provided in this chapter. It
would appear that teachers in the ASD are not presenting with STS and do not appear to be at
risk for STS. Several procedures to analyze the data were performed and a few significant
findings were presented in the chapter. Most surprising and somewhat contrary to the literature
was as burnout increases, compassion satisfaction also increases. Conversely, the study found
weak to moderate correlations between compassion satisfaction and STS and burnout and STS,
which would support previous studies of such phenomena. The overall frequencies of responses
to questions on scales that measure levels or rates of STS, burnout, arousal, intrusion, withdrawal
and compassion satisfaction were also presented in the chapter and these frequencies suggest that
teachers are not experiencing STS are levels above “rarely” and sum scores of these scale items
are in the low range. Compassion satisfaction however, as measured on the ProQol appears to be
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moderate to high, indicating that teachers would appear to enjoy the work they do with the
children and youth they teach. A more detailed summary and assessment of the overall results of
this study, including suggestions for future research is presented next in the 5th and final chapter.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
This study set out to explore if teachers in a middle class, urban school district were
experiencing STS and if there were variables that potentially reduced the prevalence of STS.
STS is a concept that suggests that when individuals work in professions that expose them to
traumatic stories or events, they experience similar conditions of the people they are helping
such as avoiding places or re-occurring trauma imagery or withdrawal from daily work and
personal activities. This can be problematic because it can hinder one’s ability to perform their
work effectively. This includes teachers who have a daily responsibility to engage students in
classroom learning.
This study had three research questions:
RQ1: What is the association between risk factors and secondary traumatic stress,
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder among
teachers in a trauma exposed setting?
RQ2: How does STS manifest in teachers?
RQ3: Are there factors that mitigate the risk of STS?
The study used descriptive computations to assess rates and levels of STS and correlation
analyses to determine associations and relationship patterns of STS and associated symptoms of
withdrawal, burnout, intrusion and avoidance. A correlation analysis was also conducted to
explore compassion satisfaction, the satisfaction and pleasure a person derives from working
with traumatized others, and its relationship with STS.
Discussion of Findings
There are several assertions about the findings and they are presented here, along with a
discussion about each. The first finding presented in Chapter Four was there was a positive
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correlation between burnout and compassion satisfaction suggesting that as burnout increases,
compassion satisfaction also increases. Considering that burnout is the exhaustion one feels over
long periods of work and that compassion satisfaction suggests that individuals enjoy and have
compassion for the individuals they are helping, this finding appears inconsistent with each of
these concepts. Maslach, Schaufell and Leiter (2001) indicate that people who experience
burnout experience a reduction in personal accomplishment at work whereas compassion
satisfaction is defined as, “the pleasure derived from being able to do one’s work of (helping
others)” (Bride, Radey, & Figley, 2007) which is in contrast to burnout (Wagaman, Geiger,
Shockeley & Segal, 2015). In this study, both of these conditions positively correlated with one
another which seem contrary to what the literature would suggest and contrary to what another
finding in this study revealed which was a negative correlation between compassion satisfaction
and STS. This finding suggests that as compassion satisfaction increases, STS decreases which
is much more consistent within the literature referenced above.
The second finding of the study was the extremely low levels of STS, avoidance,
intrusion and withdrawal among teachers. Frequencies of each of these experiences were
minimal or found to be “never” or “rarely”. This was somewhat surprising given the incidents
that occurred on the school campuses within this district and how several national studies, which
were presented in Chapter Three, reveal how traumatic events persist and impact urban schools.
This could be due to several factors. Teachers in this survey may perceive themselves as having
strong support systems, which Marius and Mairean (2015) found to reduce levels of intrusion
and avoidance. In his study of counselors, Pack (2013) suggests that collegiality may minimize
the impact of vicarious trauma, a concept associated with STS. It is also entirely possible that
teachers feel supported by their organizational environment, especially when working with
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traumatized students. An organizational culture that "normalizes" the effect of working with
trauma survivors can provide a supportive environment to address those effects in (a teacher’s)
own work and lives (Bell, Kulkarni, & Dalton, 2003). Schools offer a variety of trained
personnel and teachers can often check in with one another or even other mental health staff or
counselors for guidance in addressing issues surrounding trauma (Schonfeld & Quackenbush,
2010). Maybe the teachers within ASD feel they have these resources to cope with such
conditions, minimizing levels of STS. Finally, it could be that children in these schools simply
do not divulge or disclose their traumatic stories to their teachers. Schonfeld and Quackenbush
(2010) suggest that children share much of their immediate grief with family members and that
this grief sharing is not part of their communication with a teacher.
The survey questions were personal and sensitive in nature and thus “response bias” is a
plausible explanation for minimal levels of STS. Response bias suggests that teachers may have
responded differently from the way they actually feel because the questions were sensitive and
the (teachers) were thus not prepared to be honest (Oxford, 2009). Another possibility is “faking
good”, which refers to people who respond to questions in a survey in an attempt to present
themselves in a favorable way (Boss, König & Melchers, 2015). Responses to questions on the
survey in this study could potentially yield deficits or deficiencies that teachers would rather not
allow the researchers be aware of and thus may have “faked good” in their responses.
Due to the extremely low levels of STS, in some instances non-existent, it was difficult
for this study to adequately answer research question three, “are there factors that mitigate levels
of STS”. Considering what factors or variables minimize STS would indicate that STS was
present in teachers and these teachers found ways to decrease its impact. The teachers in this
study appear to enjoy their work and if their work involved teaching traumatized students, they
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enjoyed that as well. This seems evident since frequencies of compassion satisfaction for
teachers in this survey were moderate (often) to high (very often). Table 7 in Chapter Four
reflects this and shows that over 80% of the sample population fell within these two categories.
Similar to explanation for low levels of STS as described earlier, perhaps teachers have a work
climate that promotes and underscores the need for understanding how trauma impacts school
systems. Lakey and Cohen (2000) suggest a healthy network of personal connection,
compatibility with an effective supervisor, collegial support, and having and using a voice at
work may also reduce the effects of burnout and STS.
One other consideration for the low levels of STS and associated concepts may be due to
cultural differences. The majority of the sample population was Asian American. In the field of
psychology and mental health, there is some research to suggest that Asian American
populations are somewhat reticent to seek professional counseling and see it as a stigma. Asian
American client’s cultural values are in conflict with the values inherent in counseling, it can be
assumed that the counseling process will be impeded (Kim, Atkinson & Umemoto, 2001).
While this study did not inquire about help seeking behaviors, it could be argued that revealing
troubling personal issues can pose a threat to how someone may respond honestly and Kim et al.
(2001) suggest that the ability to control one’s emotions is a sign of strength and that and
individual should be able to resolve emotional problems internally. Leong and Lau (2001)
suggest that there may be tension for Asian Americans with collectivistic values and the issue of
open and intimate communication (something this study implicitly required) and specifically
indicates that the Chinese are reluctant to express emotion openly to others, preferring more
subtle forms of communication. They further suggest that “there is social reinforcement for
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concerns about bodily symptoms, but not for psychological problems, because of the shame
associated with the view that they are signs of personal weakness” (Leong & Lau, 2001, p.209).
Limitations
The study has several limitations that must be acknowledged. First, no data were
collected on environmental factors that the research literature suggests may contribute to STS
such as engaging in self-care (U.S. Department of Education, 2012) and having positive
supportive relationships with colleagues (Education Week, 2015). Another limitation is relying
on self-reporting on surveys. When this happens, respondent errors may include over-reporting
of events, under-reporting of events or inconsistent responses (Sinkowitz-Cochran, 2013).
Additionally, the STSS is intended for any person experiencing STS or at risk for STS but was
originally intended for counselors, not necessarily teachers. It also asks respondents to reflect on
their thoughts and feelings within the “previous 7 days”, which is a small timeframe to capture
how teachers may actually be feeling over an extended period of time. Since the study was not
longitudinal, it only measured levels of STS once. This is particularly relevant to the ProQol
instrument which is designed to be taken multiple times a year and in fact, data on “test-retest
reliability” (Salkind, 2013, p.43) suggest the ProQol is reliable over time (Stamm, 2005).
However, STS can fluctuate due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, a teacher may score
high in compassion satisfaction and low on STS in March (when the survey was disseminated)
but all of a sudden a crisis happens
Lastly, the reliability of both the STSS and the ProQol was a limitation to the study.
While the STSS certainly has a high overall Chronbach alpha (.93), several questions among the
sub-scale were deleted to increase the reliability of the instrument in this study. A total of five
items on the STSS survey indicate “intrusion.” The internal consistency of the subscale intrusion
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with five items had a low Cronbach’s alpha value. In order to increase the Cronbach’s alpha to
an acceptable level, the number of items was reduced to three. In this study, the Cronbach’s
alpha was .678. Although this value is slightly below the acceptable .7, the mean inter-item
correlation was .422 with values ranging from .312 to .625. This suggests a strong relationship
among the items. The sum score of intrusion items can range from 5 – 25. However, to increase
reliability of the study, only three questions were analyzed whereby the sum score range for
intrusion would be 3 – 15. Table 4 in Chapter Four indicates frequencies of intrusion. One
reason why the reliability of this subscale questions related to “intrusion” may be low is the
suitability of the instrument for teachers. The STSS was originally created for individuals
working in the helping profession; namely social workers, mental health counselors, first
responders, etc. Therefore, the nature of the questions were designed to elicit responses from
persons working with traumatized individuals and not necessarily for educators or teachers who
are not routinely involved with these populations.
Implications for Practice
In conducting an exhaustive literature review, only three studies were found that explore
STS in educators. The Borntrager et. al (2012) study sampled 229 school personnel in the
Midwest and found high levels of STS amongst study participants. The VanBergeijk and
Sarmiento (2006) study also found high incidences of STS in their study, but it was a sample size
of 28 teachers. Lastly, Hatcher et. al (2011) found levels of STS in their study but it was a study
of juvenile justice teachers. This study informs the field of education since it adds to the limited
number of published works. It also adds another dimension to what the research suggests in that
previous studies revealed moderate to high levels of STS amongst teachers and this study did not
indicate such findings. Conversely, this study found no significant levels or rates of STS in
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teachers and attempts to provide a rationale and explanation for why this may have occurred.
Another implication for practice is that this study considers how Asian American cultural values
and norms may have contributed to the findings; something that has not been explored in
previous studies exploring STS in teachers.
Future Research
As the field of STS begins to make stronger connections with the field of education, there
is room for future research based on this study. Namely, a mix methods approach to this sample
population type might yield further knowledge about the teachers in the sample. Interviewing
teachers either solely or in focus groups might allow for more opportunity for open ended
responses or freedom to express in narrative format what teachers might actually be
experiencing. Future research on this study would also assess overall school climate and
environment and allow for the researcher to explore how teachers view themselves and the
support they receive during difficult or troubling, traumatic times.
Another area for future research is to address the suitability of the instruments utilized for
teachers when exploring and examining STS. Reliability scores were low for some of the
questions even though the overall Chronbach alpha scores are generally within the acceptable
range. Creating new measures or modifying the existing instruments to better capture teacher
responses may be a future direction for research.
Conclusions
Finally, this study was an attempt to examine the very complex field of STS. Because
STS is not something that we encounter every day or can physically touch, it is an area that
seems more challenging to examine and critique. The study did offer a glimpse into the thoughts
and expressions of teachers in a semi-urban school district that has witnessed its fair share of
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traumatizing experiences and it was actually refreshing to learn that through these challenges,
teachers appear to be stable, healthy and moving forward. This is a welcome relief and the
students and colleagues within these schools have managed to thrive and hopefully continue to
grow and learn. The study does make important contributions to future practice and research by
reporting data that suggests that teachers in this school district, as opposed to other studies on
STS in educators, are not experiencing significant levels of STS. This study also takes a look at
how culture, specifically Asian Americans, may not accurately report their experiences with
STS. Multiple studies suggest why this may be happening, but very few discuss teachers and
STS. Another contribution of this study is that it helps look at the similarities and differences
amongst several phenomena such as STS, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout.
Again, the literature review conducted for this study yielded multiple articles that report on the
impact of each of these characteristics but in a collective report. Lastly, the study contributes to
the scarcity of studies on STS and teachers. In an extensive review of the literature, only three
studies during the last decade were found that discuss and describe STS in teachers. Hopefully
this study contributes another perspective on how teachers are managing STS.
SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS 63
63

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Appendix
TEACHERS ’ EXPOSURE TO STRESSFUL EVENTS INSTRUMENT

Sometimes teachers see, hear about, or experience stressful or violent events on or near their school
campus. I would like to know about the experiences you have had as a teacher and how these experiences
may have affected you personally.

PART 1: Background Information

1. Are you: Male=1 Female=2

2. How old are you?
20 – 25=1
26 – 30=2
31 – 35=3
36 – 40=4
41 – 45=5
46 – 50=6
51 – 55=7
56 – 60=8
61 – 65=9

3. What group or groups do you consider yourself belonging to?
Asian American= 1
Black or African American= 2
Latino or Latin American or Hispanic= 3
Native American= 4
Pacific Islander= 5
White= 6
Other= 7 (Please specify: _______________________)

4. What is the most advanced degree that you have obtained?
HS diploma= 1
BA/BS= 2
MA= 3
MSW= 4
Ph.D/PsyD.= 5
Other= 6 (Please specify: _______________________)

5. What is your current role at your school(s)?
Teacher
Psychiatric social worker
Pupil services and attendance counselor
School psychologist
Nurse
School counselor

SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS 72
72

6. How many years have you worked in this role? _________ Years

7. In what type of school do you spend the majority of your work time?
Pre-Kindergarten
Elementary school
Middle school
High school
Other

8. How many years have you worked at your current school? __________ Years

9. What is the zip code of the school where you currently work at most? __________

10. What is the zip code of your current residence? _______________

11. What grade do you teach the majority of time this year? _________
What subject(s) do you currently teach (check all that apply)?
All subjects=1
Math/Science=2
Language Arts/History=3
Art/Music/Electives=4
PE=5
Other=6 (Please specify: __________________)

PART 2: When you educate students, you may have direct contact with their lives. Consider each of the
following questions about you and your current work situation. Select the number that honestly reflects
how frequently you experienced these things in the past month.

Do not include experiences you had only from watching the TV, news, or films or from listening to the
radio. Please mark the answer that best describes your own experiences.

1=Never 2=Rarely 3=Sometimes 4=Often 5=Very Often

I am happy at school.
I am preoccupied with more than one person I teach.
I get satisfaction from being able to teach students.
I feel connected to others at school.
I jump or am startled by unexpected sounds.
I feel invigorated after working with those I teach.
I find it difficult to separate my personal life from my life as an educator.
I am not as productive at work because I am losing sleep over traumatic experiences of a student I teach.
I think that I might have been affected by the traumatic stress of the students I teach.
I feel trapped by my job as an educator.
Because of my teaching, I have felt "on edge" about various things.
I like my work as an educator.
I feel depressed because of the traumatic experiences of the students I teach.
SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS 73
73

I feel as though I am experiencing the trauma of someone I have taught.
I have beliefs that sustain me.
I am pleased with how I am able to keep up with educational techniques and protocols.
I am the person I always wanted to be.
My work makes me feel satisfied.
I feel worn out because of my work as an educator.
I have happy thoughts and feelings about those I teach and how I could help them.
I feel overwhelmed because my student case load seems endless.
I believe I can make a difference through my work.
I avoid certain activities or situations because they remind me of frightening experiences of the students I
teach.
I am proud of what I can do as a teacher.
As a result of my experiences as a teacher, I have intrusive, frightening thoughts.
I feel "bogged down" by the school system.
I have thoughts that I am a success as a teacher.
I can't recall important parts of my work with students.
I am a very caring person.
I am happy that I chose to do this work.

PART 3: In your life outside of school, have you ever had any experience that was so frightening,
horrible, or upsetting that, in the past month you:
1. Have had nightmares about that experience or thought about it when you did not want to?

YES / NO
2. Tried hard not to think about that experience or went out of your way to avoid situations that
reminded you of it?

YES / NO
3. Were constantly on guard, watchful, or easily startled?

YES / NO
4. Felt numb or detached from others, activities, or your surroundings?

YES / NO

PART 4: Think about students you have worked with recently who have experienced stressful life events.
The following is a list of statements made by people who have been impacted by their work with
traumatized students. Read each statement, then indicate how frequently the statement was true for you in
the past month.

1=Never 2=Rarely 3=Sometimes 4=Often 5=Very Often

I felt emotionally numb.
My heart started pounding when I thought about my work with students.
It seemed as if I was reliving the trauma(s) experienced by my student(s).
I had trouble sleeping.
I felt discouraged about the future.
Reminders of my work with students upset me.
SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS 74
74

I had little interest in being around others.
I felt jumpy.
I was less active than usual.
I thought about my work with students when I didn’t intend to.
I had trouble concentrating.
I avoided people, places, or things that reminded me of my work with students.
I had disturbing dreams about my work with students.
I wanted to avoid working with some students.
I was easily annoyed.
I expected something bad to happen.
I noticed gaps in my memory about meeting with students

PART 5.

1. Have you ever seen or talked to someone from your Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
regarding violent or stressful events that have occurred at school?

YES…………………….1
NO……………………...0

2. Have you ever seen or talked to a doctor, counselor, or mental health professional (such as a
psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or a clinical social worker) regarding violent or
stressful events that have occurred at school?

YES…………………….1
NO……………………...0

THANK YOU FOR FILLING OUT THIS SURVEY!

© B. Hudnall Stamm, 2009. Professional Quality of Life: Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue Version 5 (ProQOL).
Bride, Brian E. (2004).Development and Validation of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, pg. 13 (appendix)

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Although secondary traumatic stress has recently been gaining the attention of public school systems, the evidence of the impact of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) on teachers has just begun to be explored. Further, no specific interventions to address STS in the unique environment of public schools presently exist. Teachers who work in school settings with students who have experienced some form of severe trauma or students that have trauma histories are subject to STS. The U.S. Department of Education indicates that STS can impact a person’s physical, emotional, psychological, cognitive and professional attributes. In a review of the literature during the past two decades, there has been two empirical studies that explore STS in K-12 educators working in public schools. ❧ This study set out to explore levels of STS in teachers working a public school district that were perhaps vulnerable to symptoms of STS. The study also explored the relationships between STS and other commonly associated phenomena such as burnout. Overall, the study found very minimal levels of STS in the sample, but did find unique correlations between STS and symptoms of withdrawal, arousal and thought intrusion. Interestingly enough, the study found higher rates of compassion satisfaction than STS.

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Creator Hydon, Stephen P. (author)

Core Title Exploring the prevalence and mitigating variables of secondary traumatic stress in K-12 educators

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publication Date 04/15/2016

Defense Date 02/10/2016

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,professional quality of life,risk factors,Stress,Teachers,trauma

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Advisor Green, Alan G. (committee chair), Baca, Reynaldo (committee member), Guirguis, Nancy (committee member)

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