Abstract
The majority of children living in the USA have experienced at least one adverse experience. Long term, negative psychological, behavioral, and physical health consequences for students are associated with exposure to traumatic experiences. What is less well understood is how students’ exposure to traumatic events may impact the lives and work of educators who serve them. Educators receive little training or support to cope with the stressors associated with their direct work with youth exposed to trauma. There is a critical need to understand the psychological and emotional consequences of working with students who have experienced trauma as teachers’ own emotional well-being influences the quality of education they provide to students. Although research with other helping professionals has identified both positive and negative effects of working with individuals exposed to trauma for other helping professionals, such research with teachers is rare. The current study design includes both concurrent and sequential mixed method processes to examine how teachers experience compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and burnout. Additionally, we examine whether the most common measurement model needs to be expanded to include additional salient constructs for educators. Mixed methods analyses demonstrate that the most common measurement model does not fit well for the samples of educators, and educators have unique experiences with the constructs of STS, burnout, compassion satisfaction, and emotional well-being. Understanding the strengths and vulnerabilities for teachers working with students exposed to trauma will inform the accurate and efficient measurement of constructs unique to this population.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ater, M. (2001). Play therapy behaviors of sexually abused children. In G. L. Landreth (Ed.), Innovations in play therapy: Issues, process, and special populations (pp. 199–129). Brunner-Routledge.
Baird, D. K., & Kracen, A. C. (2006). Vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress: A research synthesis. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 19(2), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070600811899
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among social workers. Social Work, 52(1), 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/52.1.63
Burke, N. J., Hellman, J. L., Scott, B. G., Weems, C. F., & Carrion, V. G. (2011). The impact of adverse childhood experiences on an urban pediatric population. Child Abuse and Neglect, 35(6), 408–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.02.006
Caringi, J. C., Stanick, C., Trautman, A., Crosby, L., Devlin, M., & Adams, S. (2015). Secondary traumatic stress in public school teachers: Contributing and mitigating factors. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 8(4), 244–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/1754730X.2015.1080123
Christian-Brandt, A. S., Santacrose, D. E., & Barnett, M. L. (2020). In the trauma-informed care trenches: Teacher compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and intent to leave education within underserved elementary schools. Promoting a Healthy and Resilient Child Abuse and Neglect Workforce, 110(3), 104437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104437
Collins, K., Connors, K., Donohue, A., Gardner, S., Goldblatt, E., Hayward, A., Kiser, L., Strieder, F., & Thompson, E. (2010). Understanding the impact of trauma and urban poverty on family systems: Risks, resilience, and interventions. Family Informed Trauma Treatment Center. http://nctsn.org/nccts/nav.do?pid=ctr_rsch_prod_ar
Craig, C. D., & Sprang, G. (2010). Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout in a national sample of trauma treatment therapists. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 23(3), 319–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615800903085818
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.
Dedoose (9.0.17). (2021). [Computer software]. Socio Cultural Research Consultants, LLC. www.dedoose.com
Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Toward a new understanding of the costs of caring. In Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators (pp. 3–28). The Sidran Press. file:///C:/Users/elple/Downloads/Figley1995CompassionFatigue-Towardanewunderstanding....pdf
Finkelhor, D., Turner, H. A., Shattuck, A., & Hamby, S. L. (2015). Prevalence of childhood exposure to violence, crime, and abuse: Results from the national survey of children’s exposure to violence. JAMA Pediatrics, 169(8), 746–754. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0676
Fleckman, J. M., Drury, S. S., Taylor, C. A., & Theall, K. P. (2016). Role of direct and indirect violence exposure on externalizing behavior in children. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 93(3), 479–492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0052-y
Galiana, L., Arena, F., Oliver, A., Sansó, N., & Benito, E. (2017). Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout in Spain and Brazil: ProQOL validation and cross-cultural diagnosis. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 53(3), 598–604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.09.014
Heritage, B., Rees, C. S., & Hegney, D. G. (2018). The ProQOL-21: A revised version of the professional quality of life (ProQOL) scale based on rasch analysis. PLoS ONE, 13(2), e0193478. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193478
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
Hydon, S., Wong, M., Langley, A. K., Stein, B. D., & Kataoka, S. H. (2015). Preventing secondary traumatic stress in educators. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(2), 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2014.11.003
Jones, S. M., & Bouffard, S. M. (2012). Social and emotional learning in schools: From programs to strategies and commentaries. Social Policy Report, 26(4), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2012.tb00073.x
Kline, R. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). Guilford.
Larson, S., Chapman, S., Spetz, J., & Brindis, C. D. (2017). Chronic childhood trauma, mental health, academic achievement, and school-based health center mental health services. The Journal of School Health, 87(9), 675–686. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12541
Levitt, H. M., Bamberg, M., Creswell, J. W., Frost, D. M., Josselson, R., & Suárez-Orozco, C. (2018). Journal article reporting standards for qualitative primary, qualitative meta-analytic, and mixed methods research in psychology: The APA Publications and Communications Board task force report. American Psychologist, 73(1), 26–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000151
Maschi, T., Baer, J., Morrissey, M. B., & Moreno, C. (2013). The aftermath of childhood trauma on late life mental and physical health: A review of the literature. Traumatology, 19(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765612437377
Maslach, C. (1982). Burnout: The cost of caring. Prentice-Hall.
Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 2(2), 99–113. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030020205
McIntyre, E. M., Baker, C. N., Overstreet, S., & New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative. (2019). Evaluating foundational professional development training for trauma-informed approaches in schools. Psychological Services, 16(1), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000312
McKay, M. M., Lynn, C. J., & Bannon, W. M. (2005). Understanding inner city child mental health need and trauma exposure: Implications for preparing urban service providers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.75.2.201
Musa, S. A., & Hamid, A. A. R. M. (2008). Psychological problems among aid workers operating in Darfur. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 36(3), 407–416. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2008.36.3.407
Muthén, L., & Muthén, B. (2019). MPlus user’s guide (8th edn.). Muthén & Muthén.
Newman, J., & Dusenbery, L. (2015). Social and emotional learning (SEL): A framework for academic, social, and emotional success. In K. Bosworth (Ed.), Advances in prevention science. Springer.
Oh, D. L., Jerman, P., Marques, S. S., Koita, K., Boparai, S. K. P., Harris, N. B., & Bucci, M. (2018). Systematic review of pediatric health outcomes associated with childhood adversity. BMC Pediatrics, 18(1), 83–83. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1037-7
Overstreet, S., & Mathews, T. (2011). Challenges associated with exposure to chronic trauma: Using a public health framework to foster resilient outcomes among youth. Psychology in the Schools, 48(7), 738–754. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20584
Pines, A., & Aronson, E. (1988). Career burnout: causes and cures. Free Press.
Saakvitne, K. W., Gamble, S., Pearlman, L. A., & Tabor Lev, B. (2000). Risking connection: A training curriculum for working with survivors of childhood abuse. Sidran Institute Press.
Samson, T., Iecovich, E., & Shvartzman, P. (2016). Psychometric characteristics of the Hebrew version of the professional quality-of-life scale. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 52(4), 575-581.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.03.019
Sansone, R. A., Leung, J. S., & Wiederman, M. W. (2012). Five forms of childhood trauma: Relationships with aggressive behavior in adulthood. The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders, 14(5), PCC.12m01353. https://doi.org/10.4088/PCC.12m01353
Sass, D. A., Seal, A. K., & Martin, N. K. (2011). Predicting teacher retention using stress and support variables. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(2), 200–215. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231111116734
Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods for Psychological Research, 8(2), 23–74.
Schonfeld, I. S., & Bianchi, R. (2016). Burnout and depression: Two entities or one? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72(1), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22229
Shernoff, E. S., Mehta, T. G., Atkins, M. S., Torf, R., & Spencer, J. (2011). A qualitative study of the sources and impact of stress among urban teachers. School Mental Health, 3(2), 59–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-011-9051-z
Sinclair, S., Norris, J. M., McConnell, S. J., Chochinov, H. M., Hack, T. F., Hagen, N. A., McClement, S., & Raffin Bouchal, S. (2016). Compassion: A scoping review of the healthcare literature. BMC Palliative Care, 15, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-016-0080-0
Skaalvik, E., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Still motivated to teach? A study of school context variables, stress and job satisfaction among teachers in senior high school. Social Psychology of Education, 20(1), 15–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-016-9363-9
Sprang, G., & Craig, C. (2015). An inter-battery exploratory factor analysis of primary and secondary traumatic stress: Determining a best practice approach to assessment. Best Practices in Mental Health, 11(1), 1–13.
Stamm, B. (2005). The ProQOL manual: compassion satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue/secondary trauma scales. Sidran Press.
Stamm, B. (2010). The concise ProQOL manual (2nd edn.). ProQOL.org
Stempel, H., Cox-Martin, M., Bronsert, M., Dickinson, L. M., & Allison, M. A. (2017). Chronic school absenteeism and the role of adverse childhood experiences. Academic Pediatrics, 17(8), 837–843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.09.013
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2003). The Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health. https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs_campaigns/childrens_mental_health/what-is-child-traumatic-stress.pdf
von der Embse, N., Rutherford, L., Mankin, A., & Jenkins, A. (2019). Demonstration of a trauma-informed assessment to intervention model in a large urban school district. School Mental Health, 11(2), 276–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-018-9294-z
Wade, R., Shea, J. A., Rubin, D., & Wood, J. (2014). Adverse childhood experiences of low-income urban youth. Pediatrics, 134(1), e13–e20. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds/2013-2475
Watts, J., & Robertson, N. (2015). Selecting a measure for assessing secondary trauma in nurses. Nurse Researcher, 23, 30–35. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.23.2.30.s7
Acknowledgements
Data drawn from the New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative project were supported by a grant from the United Way of Southeast Louisiana. Data drawn from the Safe Schools NOLA project were supported by a grant from the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under award number 2015-CK-BX-0020, totaling $2,662,969 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, United Way of Southeast Louisiana, OJP, NIJ, or the US Government.
Funding
Data drawn were supported by a grant from the United Way of Southeast Louisiana and the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under award number 2015-CK-BX-0020. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, United Way of Southeast Louisiana, OJP, NIJ, or the US Government.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Contributions
JMF, LP, and Stacy Overstreet contributed to conceptualization; JF, LP, KS, HP, CB, and SO were involved in methodology; JF, LP, KS, and HP contributed to formal analysis and investigation and writing—original draft preparation; JF, CB, and SO were involved in writing—review and editing, and resources; SO and CB contributed to funding acquisition; and JF and SO were involved in supervision.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Consent to Participate
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Ethics Approval
All data collection and analysis activities for both samples were approved by the Tulane University Social-Behavioral Institutional Review Board.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
The New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative consisted of the following individuals at the time of this study, in alphabetical order: Courtney N. Baker, Paulette Carter, Laura Danna, Chris Gunther, Stacy Overstreet, Denese Shervington, Taslim van Hattum, and Kathleen Whalen.
Appendix
Appendix
See Table 4.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fleckman, J.M., Petrovic, L., Simon, K. et al. Compassion Satisfaction, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Burnout: A Mixed Methods Analysis in a Sample of Public-School Educators Working in Marginalized Communities. School Mental Health 14, 933–950 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-022-09515-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-022-09515-4