Beyond linear evidence: The curvilinear relationship between secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth among healthcare professionals

Abstract

Insufficient and inconsistent research exists regarding the relationship between secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG). Some authors suggest that the STS–VPTG relationship can be linear, whereas others suggest that the relationship can best be represented as curvilinear. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine whether the relationship between STS and VPTG is essentially linear or curvilinear. A cross‐sectional correlational research design was employed, and a total of 258 surgeons, psychiatrists, and physicians who deal with victims of the ongoing conflict were selected. After controlling for the effects of vicarious and direct traumatic exposure and experience, results of hierarchical regression provide support for the curvilinear association between STS and VPTG among the overall sample (the curvilinear model explained 4.6% of the variance in Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) scores beyond the variance explained by the linear model) and among professional groups of surgeons and physicians (the curvilinear model explained 4.3% of the variance in PTGI scores among surgeons and 3.5% of the variance in PTGI scores among physicians over and above variance explained by the linear models, respectively). Findings suggest that moderate levels of STS are most associated with the highest levels of VPTG.

Post-traumatic growth and its predictors among Syrian refugees in Istanbul: A mental health population survey

“…Scatterplots with overlaid linear prediction plots were used to determine linearity between PTG and each continuous exposure variable. Because PTSD may have a positive, negative, or curvilinear relationship with PTG ( Dar and Iqbal, 2020 ), a scatterplot of PTG and PTSD, overlaid with linear and quadratic prediction plots, was built to assess curvilinearity between these two variables. Forward stepwise regression was then used to build the exploratory multiple linear regression model.…”

“…Other studies have reported a negative relationship, as higher PTSD corresponds to less PTG ( Ssenyonga et al., 2013 ), while some cross-sectional studies have indicated no association ( Zoellner and Maercker, 2006 ). A number of studies have reported a curvilinear relationship, typically an inverted U-shape: PTSD and PTG increase linearly until a threshold, after which PTG decreases as PTSD score increases ( Nuttman-Shwartz et al., 2011 ; Joseph et al., 2012 ; Dar and Iqbal, 2020 ). Research on non-Syrian refugees groups has found evidence of all four types of association ( Chan et al., 2016 ).…”

Research priorities for the COVID‐19 pandemic and beyond: A call to action for psychological science

“…One of the groups most likely to be negatively affected by stress is health care professionals. The pandemic may exacerbate the already high prevalence of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and physical exhaustion among health care professionals, as well as impact on patient safety and medical error (e.g., Dar & Iqbal, 2020; Figley, 1995; Hall, Johnson, Watt, Tsipa, & O'Connor, 2016), due to excessive workload and workplace trauma (e.g., Itzhaki et al ., 2018). While resources such as support from managers and colleagues can help protect health care professionals against traumatic stress, the longer‐term impact is likely to be substantial on individuals, their families, on the national health services and the wider care industry.…”

The Curvilinear Association Between Posttraumatic Distress and Posttraumatic Growth Among Pellet Gun Victims: The Moderating Roles of Time Since Trauma and Age

“…However, in contrast to Schroder et al. (2017), who included only direct exposures, we included both direct and indirect trauma exposures, as there is evidence to suggest that indirect trauma exposure has the potential to incite posttraumatic stress symptoms (e.g., Dar & Iqbal, 2020).…”