Abstract
This study investigates secondary traumatization in emergency care personnel due to job-related exposure to traumatic events. We explored whether secondary traumatization symptoms differ from posttraumatic stress symptoms. Symptomatology was analyzed with regard to the dose of traumatic exposure, to burnout, and to social support. 92 emergency care workers with an average of 11 years (SD = 7.5 years) of professional experience participated in the study. Secondary traumatization or trauma reaction was assessed by a new German translation of the Secondary Trauma Questionnaire (Motta et al., 1999), whereas posttraumatic symptoms were measured by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. Data analysis used both univariate and multivariate regression methodology. The results demonstrate that there is an overlap of secondary trauma reactions and posttraumatic symptoms. Both classes of symptoms show medium correlations with emotional exhaustion and job involvement. Social support is negatively associated only with posttraumatic hyperarousal. Our findings on the relationship between burnout and secondary traumatization underscore the important role of psychological prevention programs for emergency care personnel.
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