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Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2025 Evidence in Action A quarterly research brief from the Center on Trauma and Children
Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress Over Time in School Personnel Involved in a Trauma-Informed Initiative
Sprang, G., Garcia, A., Schnell, A. Clark, S., and Lau, C. (2025). An Investigation of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress Over Time in School Personnel Involved in a Trauma-Informed Initiative, submitted to the Journal of Trauma Studies in Education. 4,1, 38-58.http://doi.org/10.70085/jtse.v4i1.140
The Study
Indirect exposure to trauma can negatively impact the well-being of school personnel and the students they serve. This study investigates the role individual, leadership, and organizational characteristics play in producing potential changes in burnout and secondary trauma in K-12 school personnel from baseline to post-trauma-informed care initiative. Data from the Professional Quality of Life-5 (ProQOL-5), the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) and the STS-Informed Organizational Assessment (STSI-OA) was collected from 205 school personnel (e.g. teachers, counselors, school leaders, and other staff) at two time points. General linear mixed modeling indicates mean scores on the abovementioned measures improved from baseline to post-initiative. Participants with lower STS related arousal showed an increase in burnout over time, while participants with high levels of arousal showed a decrease. Professionals with more years of experience reported lower levels of burnout. Additionally, burnout decreased as levels of engaged leadership and STSI-OA organizational practices toward being more STS-informed increased over time in participating organizations. The findings highlight the relationship between how efforts to decrease occupational trauma and stress and leadership involvement in those efforts can be harnessed to improve the well-being of school personnel.
Translational Tips
- High arousal levels subsequent to indirect exposure may be more salient to professionals than burnout, suggesting that trauma symptoms should be a primary target for intervention.
- The experience of arousal is information the professional may use to understand and respond to their environment. One’s perception of the personal relevance of an issue, the urgency of a potential response, or the importance of an event can all be influenced by the presence of arousal symptoms. Professionals should be aware of this and prioritize remediation of these symptoms (being easily startled, difficulty concentrating or sleeping, irritability or anger, constantly scanning for danger, or physical symptoms of distress) in the context of trauma-informed psychotherapy.
- Organizations should be aware of the complex interplay between secondary traumatic stress and burnout, recognizing that addressing trauma symptoms in employees may have benefits in reducing burnout as well.
- Trauma-informed care initiatives don’t just improve organizational practices and policies, they can improve the overall well-being of the workforce.
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