Secondary trauma self-efficacy: concept and its measurement

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Occupational Health
• Trauma Studies

Background:

• Professionals working with trauma survivors face unique challenges, including secondary traumatic stress.
• Existing measures may not adequately capture self-efficacy in managing these demands.
• Social cognitive theory provides a framework for understanding self-efficacy in coping with adversity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Secondary Trauma Self-Efficacy (STSE) Scale.
• To assess the scale's reliability, validity, and cultural invariance.
• To measure professionals' perceived ability to cope with secondary traumatic stress.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted with behavioral health professionals (US) and healthcare/social workers (Poland).
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to evaluate scale structure.
• Internal consistency, temporal stability, and correlations with related constructs were assessed.

Main Results:

• The 7-item STSE Scale demonstrated unidimensionality, good internal consistency, and temporal stability in both studies.
• STSE scores correlated significantly with secondary traumatic stress symptoms.
• The scale's factor structure and correlations were invariant across cultural samples, suggesting cultural unbiasedness.

Conclusions:

• The STSE Scale is a reliable, valid, and culturally unbiased instrument for assessing self-efficacy in managing secondary traumatic stress.
• The scale can be utilized by researchers and clinicians to evaluate coping capacities in professionals exposed to trauma.
• Findings support the application of the STSE Scale across diverse professional and cultural contexts.