The Relationship between Sense of Coherence and Indicators of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Non-Professional Trauma Counsellors

Abstract

Personality disposition is consistently noted in the literature as a critical component in the dynamics of stress — strain relationships. However, the precise nature of the role played by personality dispositions is still open to debate. In this study personality disposition is operationalised as a form of global perceptual disposition, namely, Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence. The role of Sense of Coherence in the potential experience of secondary traumatic stress forms the focus of this study. Data were collected on a sample of 130 trained non-professional trauma counsellors in the South African banking sector. Sense of Coherence was found not to be a consistent moderator of the relationship between the work-related experiences of the trauma counsellors and the indicators of secondary traumatic stress. Instead Sense of Coherence emerged as having a statistically strong main effect on the indicators of secondary traumatic stress.

The Impact of Providing Psychosocial Services to Traumatized Populations

“…A number of studies have investigated the potential of a personal history of trauma as a risk factor for the development of secondary trauma symptoms, two of which failed to find a relationship between a personal trauma history and various indicators of secondary traumatic stress (Follette et al, 1994;Ortlepp & Friedman, 2001). However, Ghahramanlou and Brodbeck (2000) found higher secondary trauma intensity, as well as higher levels of general psychological distress, in sexual trauma counselors with a personal history of trauma.…”

Validation of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) in a chemical factory

“…The result is that people experience an imbalance between workplace demands and the resources that they have in order to cope with these demands. Amid similar stressful situations, some individuals, however, find it difficult to keep up with the pace while others tend to cope better (Ortlepp & Friedman, 2001).…”

“…An individual's sense of coherence is proposed to develop in relation to his/her experience of the world as predictable and consistent as well as the ability to shape life's outcomes (Ortlepp & Friedman, 2001). Sense of coherence is a generalised orientation towards the environment, which serves as a source of general resistance resources for an individual to draw on in order to deal with the demands of life (Nilsson et al, 2003).…”

The Role of a Sense of Coherence In The Prevention of Compassion Fatigue

“…Frankl"s time, others have built models of resilience to and recovery from psychological distress and built on an awareness of compassion, meaning and purpose (Almedom, 2005;Anadarajah & Hight, 2001;Antonovsky, 1987Antonovsky, , 1996Bryant-Davis, 2005;Friedman, 2005;Grauf-Grounds & Edwards, 2007;Harvey, 1996;Harvey & Tummala-Narra, 2007;Hernández et al, 2010;Honos-Webb, Hart, & Scalise, 2006;Linley & Joseph, 2007;Pallant & Lae, 2002;Pietrzak, Johnson, Goldstein, Malley, & Southwick, 2009;Raingruber & Kent, 2003;Sagy & Antonovsky, 2000). Linley et al (2005) life"s meaning (Almedom, 2005;Frankl, 1959Frankl, /1992Harrison & Westwood, 2009;Hernández et al, 2010;Nelson, 2010;Pietrzak et al, 2009 (Almedom, 2005;Hernández et al, 2010;Hernández et al, 2007;Ortlepp & Friedman, 2001). Vicarious resilience relates to exploring the way in which some therapists are able to access adaptive processes and coping mechanisms to not only survive, but thrive in their work with victims of trauma, much like some victims of trauma are able to thrive after trauma.…”

“…I hypothesized a significant negative correlation between compassion fatigue and sense of coherence, after controlling for the possible effect of social desirability (Almedom, 2005;Antonovsky, 1987;Flannery & Flannery, 1990;Frommberger et al, 1999;Linley & Joseph, 2007;McSherry & Holm, 1994;Ortlepp & Friedman, 2001;Pallant & Lae, 2002). I also predicted a correlation between compassion fatigue and the predictor variables of training in trauma therapy (Adams & Riggs, 2008;Figley, 2002;Pearlman & Mac Ian, 1995), past personal traumatic exposure (Brewin et al, 2000) and experience working with victims of trauma (Adams & Riggs, 2008;Figley, 2002;Pearlman & Mac Ian, 1995).…”