Reducing primary and secondary traumatic stress symptoms among educators by training them to deliver a resiliency program (ERASE-Stress) following the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand.

Reducing primary and secondary traumatic stress symptoms among educators by training them to deliver a resiliency program (ERASE-Stress) following the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2016 Mar;86(2):236-51 Authors: Berger R, Abu-Raiya H, Benatov J Abstract The current investigation evaluated the impact of a universal school-based resiliency intervention (ERASE-Stress) on educators who were working with elementary schoolchildren exposed to the Canterbury earthquake in New Zealand. In the context of major disasters, educators may suffer from "dual trauma"; they can experience symptoms of both primary trauma (as a result of the disaster itself) and secondary trauma (as a result of working with traumatized students). Sixty-three educators were randomly assigned to either the ERASE-Stress intervention or an alternative Managing Emergencies and Traumatic Incidents (METI) program which served as a control group. Efficacy of the program was evaluated at the end of the training as well as at 8 months follow-up. Compared with educators in the control group, those in the ERASE-Stress intervention significantly reduced their posttraumatic distress and secondary traumatization symptoms, improved their perceived level of professional self-efficacy as a helper of earthquake survivors, developed an optimistic outlook regarding their personal future and enhanced their sense of hope, and honed some of their positive coping...
Source: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research