The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS)

SUMMARY

The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS; Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, & Figley, 2004) is an easy to administer 17-itemself-report measure of secondary trauma. Bride et al. (2004) reported a measure of three domains of traumatic stress specifically associated with secondary exposure to trauma: intrusion, avoidance, and arousal. The STSS was reported to have high levels of internal consistency reliability and indicated evidence of convergent, discriminant, and factorial validity. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reliability and validity of the STSS with a national, random sample of mental health social workers. To assess the fit of the data to the three-factor structure proposed by Bride et al., a confirmatory factor analysis was performed on data from 275 social workers who indicated exposure to client trauma. The model fit the data adequately although high factor intercorrelations strongly suggest a unidimensional scale. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis of a unidimensional scale and a second order factor analysis yielded similar results. Findings indicate the need for further scale validation. Challenges remain for measuring and distinctly differentiating between secondary trauma symptoms of arousal, avoidance, and intrusion. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum disorder: parental work context

This research contributes to the literature on work-related factors for parents raising a child with a disability. Specifically, we used questionnaire methodology to compare two parent families raising a child with Autism Spectrum (AS) with similar families raising ‘typical’ children. Our findings suggested that parents raising a child with AS self-report higher parenting stress and more mental health symptomatology, as well as lower overall job satisfaction, less satisfaction with supervisors and less workplace contentment. In addition, our findings suggested that parents raising a child with a disability self-report similarly to parents raising ‘typical’ children with respect to work interest, commitment and quality, as well as time missed. In conclusion, our results appear to suggested that despite increased parental stress related to parenting a child with AS, with respect to several work-related factors, there are more similarities than differences among these parenting groups.     

The State of Sleep Among College Students at a Large Public University

Abstract

Objective: Data about college student sleep were collected and used to develop an education campaign to improve sleep. Participants: On-campus residents at a large state university were surveyed on 4 occasions, October 2005 to April 2007. Sample size was 675 to 1,823 students. Fall 2005 mean age = 18.5 years, SD = 1.03 (range 18–30) years. Initial survey included 935 males and 1,859 females (2005–2006). Matched pairs data (2006–2007) included 91 males and 107 females. Twenty-six males and 22 females participated in interviews. Methods: A survey administered online included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, along with an 8-question in-person interview. Results: Poor sleep interacted with academics and mental health, and an education campaign positively affected student sleep. Conclusions: Teaching students how to effectively manage sleep can improve their well-being. Sleep may also be a gateway topic for health care professionals to address sensitive health issues such as depression.     

Parameter estimation in nonlinear regression models 1

Fisher information contained in record values, inter-record times and their concomitants from a sample of fixed size is derived in general and explicit expressions are deduced for some specific known bivariate classes of distributions. A comparison between fixed sampling and inverse sampling schemes with equal number of records and concomitants is also carried out. We also consider parameter estimation based on bivariate records and a small simulation study is done.     

In Spite of All,We Make It: Themes of Stress and Resiliency as Told by Women in Families Living in Poverty

The purpose of this research study was to increase our understanding of how families living in poverty successfully meet life challenges. Family resiliency provided the theoretical framework for examining family coping and adaptation. This study used a purposive sample of women (N = 128) in families with children attending Head Start. All families lived below or at poverty level, most with 11th grade education or high-school/GED diploma. Content analysis methods were used for data analysis. Results of this study identify the characteristics that promote competence, including how individual, family, and environmental factors are potential stressors that also may serve to promote family resilience. The data indicate that family love and mutual support, as well as faith, help stressed families cope and maintain meaning in spite of lack of control over life circumstances resulting from economic poverty.     

Concretizing the Concept of Social Stress

The concept of social stress, as adapted from Selye’s work on biology, is insufficient to explain psychological functioning. To be useful, social stress must include enduring social practices characteristic of particular social systems that violate socially generated as well as biological needs. Some of these stressful events are gender role, poverty, and societal practices such as extreme competition, individualism, and materialism.     

Efficacy of a Group Therapy for Sexually Abused Adolescent Girls

ABSTRACT

The effects of a group therapy program for teenage girls reporting child sexual abuse were evaluated by means of a pretest/post-test design with a control group. The psycho-educational intervention consisted of an average of 20 weekly two-hour meetings. Results of the repeated analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed a sig-nificant improvement in youth participating in the therapy when compared with the control group on measures of post-traumatic stress, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, coping strategies, relation- ship with the mother, and sense of empowerment. The findings suggest that the group therapy offered by the Centre d'Intervention en Abus Sexuels pour la Famille (CIASF) was effective in reducing symptoms for sexually abused teenagers.     

Building Strength Through Challenging Homophobia: Liberation Workshops with Younger and Midlife Irish Lesbians

Drawing on the theoretical framework of liberation psychology, this article details workshops on liberation psychology conducted in Ireland with lesbian and transgendered persons aged from early 20's to late 50's. Both younger and older lesbians in the workshops benefited from the opportunity to focus on oppression and to explore options for transformation. The workshops illustrated many of the strengths and vulnerabilities associated with living with homophobia and demonstrated the value of action and engagement. Midlife lesbians were more aware of the systemic nature of homophobia and of the negative emotions related to that. They saw many of these as understandable and even necessary reactions to oppression rather than as negative patterns. These older lesbians tended to be more accepting of the course their lives had taken and of the ways in which choices had been influenced by homophobia and heterosexism. They tended to be more relativistic in their views on coming out, viewing coming out as a decision for each context rather than an overall principle. They valued the importance of community and of activism, and though they were aware of some of the challenges, they also had more positive experiences in this area. These strengths can facilitate managing both homophobia and aging more effectively.     

Parenting in the Context of Deportation Risk

Nearly 5.1 million children younger than age 18 live with at least one undocumented parent, about 7% of the U.S. child population. Between 2010 and 2013, an estimated 300,000 parents of U.S. citizen children were deported. Raising children in the context of deportation risk increases overall parenting stress for undocumented Latino parents. To investigate this and understand the experience of undocumented parenting, the authors interviewed 70 undocumented parents in two Southwest cities from 2012 to 2013. The authors frame their analysis using the lens of the problem of “illegality.” There are three domains of stressors associated with parenting in the context of deportation risk: trapped parenting, threat of family separation, and altered family processes. The authors discuss these findings in the context of the literature on undocumented families and parenting stress and connect these findings to the current sociopolitical context experienced by Latino families in the United States .     

Evidence-based treatments for trauma among culturally diverse foster care youth: Treatment retention and outcomes

This study describes the implementation of three evidence-based treatments addressing traumatic stress symptoms within a wraparound foster care program in Illinois. Child–Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) were implemented with a racially diverse sample of youth ages 3–18 at six agencies. Culturally sensitive adaptations were made to treatment approaches to improve client retention and outcomes. Data analyses revealed no racial differences in retention in the program and no differences in outcomes between minority youth exposed to the intervention and other participants. All three evidence-based treatments were effective in reducing symptoms and improving functioning among minority youth. Implementation issues, including challenges and culturally competent accommodations, are discussed.