Relationship of Vicarious Traumatization With Family Relations and Coping Strategies Among Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Objective: To study the relationship of vicarious traumatization with family relations and coping strategiesamong Health care professionals along with to find out the frequency of vicarious traumatization.
 Study Design: Cross sectional study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Various hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, from Jan2018 to Jun 2018.
 Methodology: A sample of 170 healthcare professionals (doctors=39, psychiatrists=27, psychologists=36, nurses=30 and others=38) (men=67, women=103) were taken from various hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Data was collected by using the secondary traumatic stress scale, the index of family relations and the brief COPE scale.
 Results: Results revealed that all the instruments have good reliability and there was significant positivecorrelation (r=0.71) between various aspects of VT (intrusion, avoidance and arousal) and poor family relations.Further analysis reflected that Emotion focused coping was positively correlated (r=0.22) with poor familyrelations whereas problem focused coping was negatively correlated (r=-0.39) with poor family relations.
 Conclusion: So it is concluded that vicarious traumatization must be addressed and identified in health settingand coping skills training must be part of healthcare professionals’ education programs.

Role of Psychosocial Factors In Vicarious Traumatization: A Comparative Study

“…The traumatic events often have devastating impacts on health and community and along with primary victims; individuals who are involved in assisting them are also at risk of developing stress related trauma 1 . This phenomenon is known as vicarious trauma and it brings changes in psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being of professionals and affects their family relations and coping symptoms because of the contagious nature of traumatization strategies negatively 2 . These professionals include medical personnel, armed forces personnel, rescue workers, fire safety workers, mental health professionals and social workers.…”