Psychometric properties of the Questionnaire for Secondary Traumatization

During the past several years, there has been a growing interest in the negative effects that providing therapy may have on therapists. Of special interest is a phenomenon called secondary traumatization, which can arise while working with traumatized clients. To develop a simple screening tool for secondary traumatization, a quantitative assessment instrument was constructed using a data-driven approach based on qualitative interviews with affected trauma therapists as well as experienced supervisors in trauma therapy.
The aim of the current study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the newly developed Questionnaire for Secondary Traumatization (FST) acute and lifetime version and to determine the most appropriate scoring procedure.
To this end, three independent samples of psychotherapists (n=371), trauma therapists in training (n=80), and refugee counselors (n=197) filled out an online questionnaire battery. Data structure was analyzed using factor analyses, cluster analyses, and reliability analyses.
Factor analyses yielded a six-factor structure for both the acute and the lifetime version with only a small number of items loading on differing factors. Cluster analyses suggested a single scale structure of the questionnaire. The FST total score showed good internal consistencies across all three samples, while internal consistency of the six extracted factors was mixed.
With the FST, a reliable screening instrument for acute and lifetime secondary traumatization is now available which is free of charge and yields a sum score for quick evaluation. The six-factor structure needs to be verified with confirmatory factor analyses.

近年来，学界对心理治疗工作给治疗师带来的负面影响愈发关注。其中尤为值得关注的是次级创伤（secondary traumatization）这一现象，该现象常出现在与创伤来访者共事的过程中。为开发一款用于次级创伤筛查的简易工具，研究团队基于对受影响的创伤治疗师以及创伤治疗领域资深督导的质性访谈，采用数据驱动方法构建了一款量化评估工具。
本研究的目的在于分析新开发的次级创伤问卷（Questionnaire for Secondary Traumatization, FST）急性版与终生版的心理测量学特性，并确定最适配的计分流程。
为此，三组独立样本——分别为心理治疗师（n=371）、受训中的创伤治疗师（n=80）以及难民咨询师（n=197）——完成了线上问卷组合调研。研究采用因素分析、聚类分析以及信度分析对数据结构进行了探究。
因素分析结果显示，急性版与终生版均呈现六因素结构，仅少量条目载荷于不同因素。聚类分析则表明该问卷具备单维度量表结构。FST总分在全部三组样本中均表现出良好的内部一致性，而提取出的六个因素的内部一致性则参差不齐。
至此，一款可用于急性与终生次级创伤筛查的可靠工具——FST正式面世，该工具免费开放，可生成总分以实现快速评估。不过，其六因素结构仍需通过验证性因素分析加以验证。