Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth Among Helping Professionals: Factor Analysis and an Investigation of Construct Validity
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The impact of trauma has varying effects on both clients and helping professionals ranging from negative responses (e.g. secondary traumatic stress [STS], compassion fatigue, and burnout) to positive responses (e.g. vicarious posttraumatic growth [VPTG], vicarious resilience, and compassion satisfaction [CS]). Vicarious posttraumatic growth is the experience of growth as a result of indirect trauma exposure. Scholars have exclusively investigated VPTG using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI); a measure of the extent an individual experiences growth experienced after trauma. The PTGI has not held its factor structure when used among indirect trauma exposure. The purpose of this study was to explore the factor structure of an instrument related to VPTG and establish evidence for construct validity among helping professionals. The researcher identified findings of a fair model fit with reasonable errors of approximation of a three-factor model to encompass (a) internal changes, (b) client progress impacting growth, and (c) negative responses. Further, the findings provide evidentiary support for convergent validity among VPTG and CS. The findings do not provide evidentiary support for discriminant validity among VPTG and STS.
Author: Jennifer D. Deaton
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3048816389