Understanding secondary traumatic stress and its impact on teacher retention

Teachers are the most important factor in eliciting positive student outcomes. However, teacher stress and attrition are an increasing problem. This problem is exacerbated in high-needs schools, which serve students who are exposed to higher levels of risk factors and trauma. Due to the unique challenges faced by their students, teachers in these schools experience heightened rates of secondary traumatic stress (STS). What is unclear is how STS operates as a unique job demand contributing to teacher attrition. The present study surveyed 104 teachers in rural North Louisiana to determine the following: (a) What general mental health symptoms and degree of STS are teachers in high-needs rural schools experiencing? (b) Does STS contribute to teacher intent to leave the field? Study findings show that many teachers experience trauma exposure through their work, with approximately a quarter of those surveyed reporting that they were likely to leave their school or the profession in the next year. Additionally, a logistic regression found that STS significantly contributes to teacher intent to leave the profession. Implications of these emergent findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).