An Investigation of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress Over Time in School Personnel Involved in a Trauma-Informed Initiative

Indirect exposure to trauma can negatively impact the well-being of school personnel and the students they serve. The purpose of this study is to investigate 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 STS 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 measures improved over time. Participants with lower STSS arousal showed an increase in burnout over time, while participants with high levels of STSS arousal showed a decrease. The findings highlight the relationship between how constructs and leadership efforts can be harnessed to improve the well-being of school personnel.