Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan
Background: Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a significant concern among mental health professionals working with traumatised populations, such as war refugees. However, limited research has explored the predictors of STS in different cultural contexts, particularly in Pakistan and Lithuania.Obje...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2543205 |
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| author | Momina Khalid Butt Neringa Grigutytė Jonas Eimontas |
| author_facet | Momina Khalid Butt Neringa Grigutytė Jonas Eimontas |
| author_sort | Momina Khalid Butt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a significant concern among mental health professionals working with traumatised populations, such as war refugees. However, limited research has explored the predictors of STS in different cultural contexts, particularly in Pakistan and Lithuania.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals working with war refugees in Pakistan and Lithuania. Specifically, the study examined the roles of social support, marital status, agreeableness, and negative emotionality in predicting STS.Methods: A total of 120 mental health professionals from Lithuania and 111 from Pakistan participated in this cross-cultural study. Participants completed an online survey assessing demographic variables, STS symptoms, and the predictors of interest. The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), Big Five Inventory (BFI-2), and a social support scale were used to assess STS, agreeableness, and social support, respectively. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and ANOVA.Results: Significant differences were found in the prevalence of STS between the two countries, with 65.2% of Pakistani participants reporting STS symptoms compared to 20% in Lithuania. In Pakistan, social support, marital status, and agreeableness emerged as protective factors, while negative emotionality and divorced marital status were identified as risk factors. In contrast, in Lithuania, only social support was found to significantly predict STS, with negative emotionality serving as a risk factor.Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of contextual factors in shaping the experience of STS among mental health professionals. While social support appears to act as a protective factor in both countries, other factors like marital status and personality traits (agreeableness) play varying roles depending on the cultural context. These insights provide valuable implications for developing targeted interventions to support mental health professionals working in refugee contexts, particularly in countries with differing socio-political landscapes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ea4addf71a224ed386a1dc1724317413 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2000-8066 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| spelling | doaj-art-ea4addf71a224ed386a1dc17243174132025-08-20T14:42:24ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662025-12-0116110.1080/20008066.2025.2543205Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and PakistanMomina Khalid Butt0Neringa Grigutytė1Jonas Eimontas2Department of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LithuaniaDepartment of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LithuaniaDepartment of Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LithuaniaBackground: Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a significant concern among mental health professionals working with traumatised populations, such as war refugees. However, limited research has explored the predictors of STS in different cultural contexts, particularly in Pakistan and Lithuania.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals working with war refugees in Pakistan and Lithuania. Specifically, the study examined the roles of social support, marital status, agreeableness, and negative emotionality in predicting STS.Methods: A total of 120 mental health professionals from Lithuania and 111 from Pakistan participated in this cross-cultural study. Participants completed an online survey assessing demographic variables, STS symptoms, and the predictors of interest. The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), Big Five Inventory (BFI-2), and a social support scale were used to assess STS, agreeableness, and social support, respectively. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and ANOVA.Results: Significant differences were found in the prevalence of STS between the two countries, with 65.2% of Pakistani participants reporting STS symptoms compared to 20% in Lithuania. In Pakistan, social support, marital status, and agreeableness emerged as protective factors, while negative emotionality and divorced marital status were identified as risk factors. In contrast, in Lithuania, only social support was found to significantly predict STS, with negative emotionality serving as a risk factor.Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of contextual factors in shaping the experience of STS among mental health professionals. While social support appears to act as a protective factor in both countries, other factors like marital status and personality traits (agreeableness) play varying roles depending on the cultural context. These insights provide valuable implications for developing targeted interventions to support mental health professionals working in refugee contexts, particularly in countries with differing socio-political landscapes.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2543205Secondary traumatic stressmental health professionalssocial supportagreeablenessnegative emotionalityEstrés traumático secundario |
| spellingShingle | Momina Khalid Butt Neringa Grigutytė Jonas Eimontas Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan European Journal of Psychotraumatology Secondary traumatic stress mental health professionals social support agreeableness negative emotionality Estrés traumático secundario |
| title | Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan |
| title_full | Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan |
| title_short | Protective and risk factors for STS among mental health professionals serving war refugees in Lithuania and Pakistan |
| title_sort | protective and risk factors for sts among mental health professionals serving war refugees in lithuania and pakistan |
| topic | Secondary traumatic stress mental health professionals social support agreeableness negative emotionality Estrés traumático secundario |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2025.2543205 |
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