The double-edged-sword effect of empathy: The secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth of psychological hotline counselors during the outbreak of COVID-19

IF 1.3 4区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

心理学报 Pub Date : 2021-09-25 DOI:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2021.00992

Lizu Lai, Zhihong Ren, Yifei Yan, Geng-feng Niu, Chunxiao Zhao, Mei Luo, Lin Zhang

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak increases public mental stress and pandemic-related trauma. Timely and comprehensive online mental health services have been deployed across China. Hotline counselors can be exposed to the stress and trauma experienced by callers indirectly. They may experience secondary traumatic stress (STS) as a result of their empathetic engagement with traumatized clients, and they may also experience vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG). The present study examined negative and positive change in hotline counselors concurrently and explored the mechanisms of both positive and negative outcomes. Participants were 776 counselors (81% female, average age = 42.57 ± 7.90, average years of experience = 12.44 ± 5.92) recruited from MOE-CCNU Mental Health Service Platform, the biggest official telephone-based and online psychological support platform in China during COVID-19 period. Empathy and VPTG were measured by revised Chinese versions of self-report questionnaires. STS was assessed by the corresponding subscale of the Professional Quality of Life Scale. The Chinese Meaning in Life Questionnaire was used to assess participants’ search for life meaning. Mindfulness was evaluated by Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Latent variable structural equation modeling was applied. After controlling age, trauma cases and total cases, counselors’ empathy was positively associated with STS and VPTG. Results revealed that empathy was positively associated with STS and VPTG. Mindfulness mediated this association between empathy and STS. Search for meaning mediated the relationship between empathy and VPTG. Additionally, the association between empathy and VPTG was also mediated through other four significant mediating pathways: (a) secondary trauma stress, (b) secondary traumatic stress and search for meaning, (c) mindfulness and search for meaning, and (d) mindfulness and secondary trauma stress and search for meaning. Our findings support that empathy lead to both positive and negative outcomes among hotline counselors during COVID-19 period in China, highlighting dialectical insights into trauma workers’ experiences. When counselors engage in others’ traumatic experience, their vicarious negative emotional experience may be a pathway to growth, and search for life meaning is an important factor in that growth. © 2021, Science Press. All rights reserved.

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共情的双刃剑效应:新冠肺炎疫情期间心理热线咨询师的继发性创伤应激与替代性创伤后成长

2019年新型冠状病毒疾病（新冠肺炎）的爆发增加了公众的心理压力和与流行病相关的创伤。及时、全面的在线心理健康服务已在中国各地展开。热线咨询师可能会间接接触到来电者所经历的压力和创伤。他们可能会因与受创伤客户的移情接触而经历继发性创伤压力（STS），也可能经历替代性创伤后成长（VPTG）。本研究同时考察了热线咨询师的消极和积极变化，并探讨了积极和消极结果的机制。参与者包括776名辅导员（81%为女性，平均年龄=42.57±7.90，平均工作年限=12.44±5.92），这些辅导员来自新冠肺炎期间中国最大的官方电话和在线心理支持平台——教育部-全国大学生心理健康服务平台。采用中文版自我报告问卷对移情和VPTG进行测量。STS通过相应的专业生活质量量表的分量表进行评估。采用“中国人生意义调查表”来评估参与者对人生意义的追求。正念通过正念注意意识量表进行评估。采用潜变结构方程建模。在控制了年龄、创伤病例和总病例后，辅导员的移情与STS和VPTG呈正相关。结果显示，移情与STS和VPTG呈正相关。正念介导了移情和STS之间的这种联系。寻找意义是移情与VPTG关系的中介。此外，移情和VPTG之间的联系也通过其他四种重要的中介途径进行中介：（a）继发性创伤压力，（b）继发性创伤性压力和寻找意义，（c）正念和寻找意义以及（d）正念与继发性创伤应力和寻找意义。我们的研究结果支持，在中国新冠肺炎期间，同情心会导致热线咨询师产生积极和消极的结果，突出了对创伤工作者经历的辩证见解。当咨询师参与他人的创伤经历时，他们替代性的负面情绪体验可能是成长的途径，而寻找生命意义是成长的重要因素。©2021，科学出版社。保留所有权利。

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来源期刊

心理学报 Psychology-Psychology (all)

CiteScore

1.70

自引率

13.30%

发文量

1612

期刊介绍： Acta Psychologica Sinica (ISSN 0439-755X) is a scholarly journal sponsored by the Chinese Psychological Society and the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and published monthly by the Science Press. Acta Psychologica Sinica has been included in many important national and international indexing systems such as SCOPUS (Elsevier), ESCI (Web of Science), PsycINFO (APA), CSCD. It is the flagship journal of the Chinese Psychological Society that publishes peer-reviewed original empirical studies and theoretical articles spanning the entire spectrum of scientific psychology. Acta Psychologica Sinica publishes high-quality research that investigates the fundamental mechanisms of mind and behavior and aims to deliver scientific knowledge to enhance our understanding of culture and society. It welcomes submissions of manuscripts reporting research that is up-to-date, scientifically excellent, and of broad interest and significance.