What Comes First, Job Burnout or Secondary Traumatic Stress? Findings from Two Longitudinal Studies from the U.S. and Poland

Kotaro Shoji; Magdalena Lesnierowska; Ewelina Smoktunowicz; Judith Bock; Aleksandra Luszczynska; Charles C Benight; Roman Cieslak

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0136730

What Comes First, Job Burnout or Secondary Traumatic Stress? Findings from Two Longitudinal Studies from the U.S. and Poland

PLoS One. 2015 Aug 25;10(8):e0136730. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136730. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Kotaro Shoji¹, Magdalena Lesnierowska², Ewelina Smoktunowicz², Judith Bock¹, Aleksandra Luszczynska³, Charles C Benight⁴, Roman Cieslak⁵

Affiliations

¹ Trauma, Health, and Hazards Center, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America.
² Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Trauma, Health, and Hazards Center, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America; Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroclaw, Poland.
⁴ Trauma, Health, and Hazards Center, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America; Department of Psychology, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America.
⁵ Trauma, Health, and Hazards Center, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America; Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

This longitudinal research examined the directions of the relationships between job burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) among human services workers. In particular, using cross-lagged panel design, we investigated whether job burnout predicts STS at 6-month follow up or whether the level of STS symptoms explains job burnout at 6-month follow-up. Participants in Study 1 were behavioral or mental healthcare providers (N = 135) working with U.S. military personnel suffering from trauma. Participants in Study 2 were healthcare providers, social workers, and other human services professions (N = 194) providing various types of services for civilian trauma survivors in Poland. The cross-lagged analyses showed consistent results for both longitudinal studies; job burnout measured at Time 1 led to STS at Time 2, but STS assessed at Time 1 did not lead to job burnout at Time 2. These results contribute to a discussion on the origins of STS and job burnout among human services personnel working in highly demanding context of work-related secondary exposure to traumatic events and confirm that job burnout contributes to the development of STS.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adult
Burnout, Professional / epidemiology
Burnout, Professional / physiopathology
Burnout, Professional / psychology*
Compassion Fatigue / epidemiology
Compassion Fatigue / physiopathology
Compassion Fatigue / psychology*
Female
Health Personnel / psychology*
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Poland
United States

Grants and funding

This research was supported by grant awarded to Charles C. Benight and administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center at Fort Detrick, Maryland, under Contract Number W81XWH-11-2-0153 (http://www.tatrc.org/www/default.html). The study was also supported by the research grant from the National Science Center, Poland (N N106 139537) awarded to Roman Cieslak (https://www.ncn.gov.pl/?language=en). The contribution of Aleksandra Luszczynska is supported by the Foundation for Polish Science, Master program (http://www.fnp.org.pl/en/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.