Secondary Traumatic Stress in Teachers and School Communities Impacted by the Opioid Epidemic

Abstract

Secondary Traumatic Stress in Teachers and School Communities Impacted by the Opioid Epidemic by Anne Steketee People who support others who have experienced trauma, like nurses, doctors, social workers, or first responders can sometimes be affected by a type of stress called secondary traumatic stress (STS). Although the effect of STS has been studied in helpers like social workers and medical professionals, the prevalence and characteristics of STS in teachers have not been studied extensively and are less understood. Schools in our communities impacted by the opioid epidemic also report additional stressors from issues like addiction, overdose, crime, neglect, rise in foster care, increased medical care, and death. This dissertation investigates STS in K-12 public school teachers in the United States, in areas of varying opioid impact. Specifically, K-12 teachers (n = 450), in 26 states and Washington, D. C., were surveyed utilizing a validated instrument for secondary traumatic stress (Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale; Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, & Figley, 2004), along with demographic questions and open-ended questions. Teachers were also asked about adverse childhood experiences of their students, using the PHL-ACE categories (Health Federation of Philadelphia and Philadelphia ACE Research and Data Committee, 2012). The prevalence and extent of teacher STS were explored in communities of low-, medium-, and high-opioid impact levels as defined by the National Institute of Health epidemiology parameters. I used descriptive statistics and correlations (Spearman's Rho) to determine the prevalence of STS in the sample of teachers and to determine if this prevalence had any relationship to the opioid mortality rate in communities. Over half of the teachers in the VII study (59.56%) experienced STS at a moderate or higher level. Teachers in high opioid zones reported the highest mean STSS scores (M = 43.78, SD = 16.00), with 62.67% scoring at 38 or higher. Over 85% of teachers endorsed intrusion symptoms at a diagnostic level. Between 91-93% of all teachers surveyed endorsed adverse events experienced by their students. Using Spearman's Rho correlation, I did not find a relationship between the environment of the opioid zone or the demographic characteristics of the teachers. Additional findings and implications are discussed and support the need to continue teacher STS research in all communities. VIII

Has the Opioid Crisis Affected Student Learning? A National Analysis of Growth Rates

“…There are multiple within-school pathways through which community opioid presence may affect children’s educational outcomes. To start, scholars have documented the consequences of the opioid epidemic for teachers’ stress and well-being, noting the dearth of resources and training provided to educators in opioid-affected communities (Anderson, Troilo, and Tack 2019; Steketee 2020; Welby 2019). For example, in surveys of more than two thousand educators in West Virginia, Anderson, Troilo, and Tack (2019) found that more than 70 percent reported “emotional exhaustion, cynicism and a lack of personal accomplishment related to the changing classroom dynamics created by the opioid crisis.” Given widely documented relations between teachers' stress and turnover rates (e.g., Sass, Seal, and Martin 2011), as well as the negative consequences of teacher stress and turnover for children’s academic development (Hagermoser Sanetti et al 2021), opioid-related teacher stress would be expected to harm students’ classroom learning.…”

“…There are multiple within-school pathways through which community opioid presence may affect children's educational outcomes. To start, scholars have documented the consequences of the opioid epidemic for teachers' stress and well-being, noting the dearth of resources and training provided to educators in opioid-affected communities (Anderson, Troilo, and Tack 2019;Steketee 2020;Welby 2019). For example, in surveys of more than two thousand educators in West Virginia, Anderson, Troilo, and Tack (2019) found that more than 70 percent reported "emotional exhaustion, cynicism and a lack of personal accomplishment related to the changing classroom dynamics created by the opioid crisis."…”