Burnout and secondary trauma among forensic interviewers

Predictors of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction among practitioners in Norwegian child advocacy centers

BACKGROUND

Practitioners at Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) are frequently exposed to indirect trauma through their job, yet there is a lack of knowledge on how this affects them emotionally.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the levels of burnout, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and compassion satisfaction among practitioners at Norwegian CACs, and possible individual or work-related predictors.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

An electronic cross-sectional survey was sent to practitioners at Norwegian CACs. A total of 77 practitioners completed the survey (response rate 86.5 %).

METHODS

Variables were measured with the Professional Quality of Life Scale, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, and questions on personal traumatic experiences, support, and supervision. Bivariate and multivariate mixed effects modeling analyses and logistic regression analyses were employed.

RESULTS

The results showed relatively low levels of burnout and STS, and high levels of compassion satisfaction, compared to other studies of child protective and child welfare professionals. Work-related factors, but not individual factors, were found to predict all three outcome variables: Burnout was predicted by transformational leadership (p = .002) and laissez-faire leadership (p = .012), secondary traumatic stress by case supervision (p = .001), and compassion satisfaction by transformational leadership (p < .000), laissez-faire leadership (p = .028), and personal supervision (p = .023).

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that transformational leadership and supervision may protect against burnout and STS and promote compassion satisfaction in practitioners working at CACs. The type of supervision may be relevant, as case-focused supervision predicted STS, while personal supervision predicted compassion satisfaction.

Burned Out, Engaged, Both, or Neither? Exploring Engagement and Burnout Profiles among Social Workers in Spain

Few studies have analyzed the existence of homogeneous groups (profiles) in burnout and engagement among professionals, and none in social workers. This study with 448 social workers from Spain mainly examined their profiles in burnout and engagement and the characteristics of each profile in relevant job-related variables. Cluster analyses yielded four distinct profiles: the first, Burned Out, showed high burnout and low engagement; the second, Engaged, exhibited the inverse pattern with low burnout and high engagement; the third, Both, displayed simultaneously high burnout and high engagement; the fourth, Neither, showed low burnout and low engagement. The profiles also differed greatly in work-related variables: job demands (i.e., workload and work--family conflict), job resources (i.e., support from supervisor and coworkers), personal resources (i.e., psychological detachment and relaxation), and outcomes (i.e., intrinsic job satisfaction and intent to leave). The findings support interventions, individual and organizational, tailored to the characteristics of different groups to boost engagement and decrease burnout and turnover.

Impact of Traumatic Material on Professionals in Analytical and Secondary Investigative Roles Working in Criminal Justice Settings: a Qualitative Approach

Professionals in analytical and secondary investigative roles are exposed to violent material on a daily basis with full immersion in the details of serious offenses. However, there is limited evidence of the impact of this on their mental health. Therefore, this research aims to explore the impact of traumatic material on the mental health of these professionals in police and law enforcement and the strategies they employ to cope with the nature of their work. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with these professionals from UK, Canada, and Europe. Five key themes were identified: "Analyzing material," "Negative Influences," "Coping Strategies," "Additional Risk Factors," and "Protective Factors." From the findings, it is evident that these professionals are at significant risk of developing secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and sleep problems. The constant exposure to this material negatively influenced their feelings about their home and social lives. The implications of these findings and avenues for providing a supportive working environment are discussed.

Children’s needs during disclosures of abuse

A Narrative Literature Review was conducted providing a comprehensive overview of children’s barriers to disclose during investigations of child abuse. Patterns in the literature were categorized as themes and include: rapport and relationship with the interviewer, feeling in control and prepared, communication, physical abilities, mental health, environment, family dynamics, culture and individual uniqueness. Using a combination of a critical analyses approach and drawing from personal background experiences and knowledge in working with children during disclosures, the themes are expanded upon as a discussion that explores what children may therapeutically need during their disclosures of abuse within the forensic interview. Some practice implications are incorporated with the intent to generate further thinking about addressing children’s needs during investigations of child abuse. Working with multidisciplinary teams in Child and Youth Advocacy Centres is discussed and may be a resource for understanding children’s needs during disclosures of abuse.

A scoping review of recommendations in the English language on conducting research with trauma-exposed populations since publication of the Belmont report; thematic review of existing recommendations on research with trauma-exposed populations

OBJECTIVE

To identify recommendations for conducting public health research with trauma-exposed populations.

METHODS

Researchers searched Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Open Grey, and Google Scholar for recommendations. Trauma that causes psychological impact was our exposure of interest and we excluded clinical articles on treating physical trauma. We reviewed titles and abstracts of 8,070 articles and full text of 300 articles. We analyzed recommendations with thematic analysis, generated questions from the existing pool of recommendations, and then summarized select gaps.

RESULTS

We abstracted recommendations from 145 articles in five categories: community benefit, participant benefit, safety, researcher well-being, and recommendations for conduct of trauma research.

CONCLUSIONS

Gold standards to guide the conduct of trauma-informed public health research do not yet exist. The literature suggests participation in trauma research is not inherently harmful, and current recommendations concern using research to benefit communities and participants, protecting participants and researchers from harm, and improving professional practice. As public health researchers increasingly analyze trauma as a determinant of health, gold standards for the conduct of trauma-informed public health research would be appropriate and timely.