Date of Award

Summer 8-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology

Committee Director

Kristin E. Heron

Committee Member

Andrew S. Franklin

Committee Member

Richard W. Handel

Committee Member

Matt R. Judah

Abstract

Trauma can result in adverse psychological outcomes from survivors and the helping professionals who support them. Vicarious (or secondary) traumatization is common among helping professionals and can lead to compassion fatigue and burnout. However, empathetic engagement with trauma survivors and their stories has been shown to lead to positive vicarious outcomes, including vicarious posttraumatic growth. Vicarious posttraumatic growth has been linked to personal and professional benefits for helping professionals. However, positive vicarious outcomes after engagement with peer trauma experiences had yet to be explored outside of helping relationships. The present study found that vicarious posttraumatic growth in non-helping professionals was uniquely predicted by hope, spirituality, and empathy. It is among the first studies to test multiple predictors of vicarious posttraumatic growth using an experimental design. Future research can continue to observe and magnify positive vicarious outcomes outside of helping profession contexts.

Comments

The VIRGINIA CONSORTIUM PROGRAM IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY is a joint program of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk State University, and Old Dominion University.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/16zz-c831

ISBN

9798352694107

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