Purpose: This study examined the measurement invariance of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) across racial and gender groups among public child welfare workers. Method: Survey data from 2,004 participants were analyzed using a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to examine the measurement invariance of a 17-item scale assessing intrusion, avoidance, and arousal symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS). Results: The study identified a single-factor model that combined all STS symptoms. A measurement invariance test revealed that the STS scale did not achieve acceptable measurement invariance between White and Black workers. For gender, partial scalar invariance was supported although the latent mean of STS did not differ significantly between male and female workers. Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of further research to improve the STS scale to better capture racial disparities in STS and reflect culturally specific symptoms of STS, especially among Black social workers.
Barboza-WilkesC. J.LeT. V.ReshW. G. (2022). Deconstructing burnout at the intersections of race, gender, and generation in local government. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 33(1), 186–201. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muac018
2.
BaumN. (2016). Secondary traumatization in mental health professionals: A systematic review of gender findings. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 221–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015584357
3.
BenutoL. T.YangY.AhrendtA.CummingsC. (2021). The secondary traumatic stress scale: Confirmatory factor analyses with a national sample of victim advocates. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(5–6), 2572–2591. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518759657
4.
BonachK.HeckertA. (2012). Predictors of secondary traumatic stress among children's advocacy center forensic interviewers. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 21(3), 295–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2012.647263
5.
BrideB. E.RobinsonM. M.YegidisB.FigleyC. R. (2004). Development and validation of the secondary traumatic stress scale. Research on Social Work Practice, 14(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731503254106
6.
ButlerL. D.MaguinE.CarelloJ. (2018). Retraumatization mediates the effect of adverse childhood experiences on clinical training-related secondary traumatic stress symptoms. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 19(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2017.1304488
7.
ByrneB. M. (2016). Structural equation modeling with Amos: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (3rd ed.). Routledge.
8.
ByrneB. M.ShavelsonR. J.MuthénB. (1989). Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 105(3), 456–466. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.105.3.456
9.
ChenF. F.JuddC. M. (2008). What happens if we compare chopsticks with forks? The impact of making inappropriate comparisons in cross-cultural research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1005–1018. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013193
10.
ChoiG. Y. (2011). Organizational impacts on the secondary traumatic stress of social workers assisting family violence or sexual assault survivors. Administration in Social Work, 35(3), 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/03643107.2011.575333
CornilleT. A.MeyersT. W. (1999). Secondary traumatic stress among child protective service workers: Prevalence, severity and predictive factors. Traumatology, 5(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/153476569900500105
13.
CraunS. W.BourkeM. L. (2015). Is laughing at the expense of victims and offenders a red flag? Humor and secondary traumatic stress. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 24(5), 592–602. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2015.1042187
14.
CreamerT. L.LiddleB. J. (2005). Secondary traumatic stress among disaster mental health workers responding to the September 11 attacks. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(1), 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20008
15.
CrenshawK. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
16.
DaganS. W.Ben-PoratA.ItzhakyH. (2016). Child protection workers dealing with child abuse: The contribution of personal, social and organizational resources to secondary traumatization. Child Abuse & Neglect, 51, 203–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.10.008
17.
DenbyR. W.AlfordK. A.CurtisC. M. (2003). Targeting special populations for family preservation: The influence of worker competence and organizational culture. Journal of Family Strengths, 7(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.58464/2168-670X.1188
18.
DespeauxK. E.JahnD. R. (2017). Potential moderators of racial differences in responses to traumatic events. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 22(3), 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2017.1284485
19.
DomboE. A.Whiting BlomeW. (2016). Vicarious trauma in child welfare workers: A study of organizational responses. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 10(5), 505–523. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2016.1206506
20.
FabrigarL. R.WegenerD. T.MacCallumR. C.StrahanE. J.AppelbaumM. I. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272
21.
FigleyC. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue as secondary traumatic stress disorder: An overview. In FigleyC. R. (Ed.), Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (pp. 1–20). Brunner/Mazel.
22.
GenoveseJ.WangX. (2023). Secondary traumatic stress of child welfare workers: Developing individual and agency strategies for well-being and self-care. In Denby-BrinsonR.IngramC. (Eds.), Child and Family-Serving Systems: A Compendium of Policy and Practice, Volume 5. CWLA Press.
23.
JankoskiJ. A. (2010). Is vicarious trauma the culprit? A study of child welfare professionals. Child Welfare, 89(6), 105–120. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48623285
24.
LevS.ZychlinskiE.KaganM. (2022). Secondary traumatic stress among social workers: The contribution of resilience, social support, and exposure to violence and ethical conflicts. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 13(1), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1086/714015
25.
LuongR.FlakeJ. K.SteinleyD. (2023). Measurement invariance testing using confirmatory factor analysis and alignment optimization: A tutorial for transparent analysis planning and reporting. Psychological Methods, 28(4), 905–924. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000441
26.
MacEachernA. D.DennisA. A.JacksonS.Jindal-SnapeD. (2019). Secondary traumatic stress: Prevalence and symptomology amongst detective officers investigating child protection cases. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(2), 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9277-x
27.
MeyersT. W.CornilleT. A. (2002). The trauma of working with traumatized children. In FigleyC. R. (Ed.), Treating compassion fatigue (pp. 39–55). Brunner-Routledge.
28.
MolnarB. E.MeekerS. A.MannersK.TieszenL.KalergisK.FineJ. E.HallinanS.WolfeJ. D.WellsM. K. (2020). Vicarious traumatization among child welfare and child protection professionals: A systematic review. Child Abuse & Neglect, 110(3), 104679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104679
29.
MolnarB. E.SprangG.KillianK. D.GottfriedR.EmeryV.BrideB. E. (2017). Advancing science and practice for vicarious traumatization/secondary traumatic stress: A research agenda. Traumatology, 23, 129–142. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000122
30.
PendergastL. L.von der EmbseN.KilgusS. P.EklundK. R. (2017). Measurement equivalence: A non-technical primer on categorical multi-group confirmatory factor analysis in school psychology. Journal of School Psychology, 60, 65–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.11.002
31.
PutnickD. L.BornsteinM. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004
RobertsA. L.GilmanS. E.BreslauJ.BreslauN.KoenenK. C. (2011). Race/ethnic differences in exposure to traumatic events, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatment-seeking for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United States. Psychological Medicine, 41(1), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291710000401
34.
RodriguezJ. K.HolvinoE.FletcherJ. K.NkomoS. M. (2016). The theory and praxis of intersectionality in work and organisations: Where do we go from here?Gender, Work & Organization, 23(3), 201–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12131
35.
SuzukiS.MorrisS. L.JohnsonS. K. (2021). Using QuantCrit to advance an anti-racist developmental science: Applications to mixture modeling. Journal of Adolescent Research, 36(5), 535–560. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584211028229
36.
TingL.JacobsonJ. M.SandersS.BrideB. E.HarringtonD. (2005). The secondary traumatic stress scale (STSS): Confirmatory factor analyses with a national sample of mental health social workers. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 11(3–4), 177–194. https://doi.org/10.1300/J137v11n03_09
37.
ValentineS. E.MarquesL.WangY.AhlesE. M.Dixon De SilvaL.AlegríaM. (2019). Gender differences in exposure to potentially traumatic events and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by racial and ethnic group. General Hospital Psychiatry, 61, 60–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.10.008
38.
Van de SchootR.LugtigP.HoxJ. (2012). A checklist for testing measurement invariance. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9(4), 486–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.686740
39.
WangX.PhelpsB.AlfordK.LeeM. Y. (2022). Trauma-informed care. An intergenerational approach. In Denby-BrinsonR.IngramC. (Eds.), Child and family-serving systems: A compendium of policy and practice (vol. 1, pp. 211–232). CWLA Press.
40.
WorthingtonR. L.WhittakerT. A. (2006). Scale development research: A content analysis and recommendations for best practices. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(6), 806–838. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006288127
