Childhood Trauma History and Vicarious Traumatization In Early Career Mental Health Professionals: The Roles of Supervisory Working Alliance and Shame

Vicarious traumatization (VT) in the context of early career mental health professionals (MHPs) with personal trauma histories has been examined in the literature on a limited basis, particularly regarding the role that supervisory working alliance and shame could contribute to the effects of VT. Research questions asked: (a) Among early career MHPs who have a personal childhood trauma history, does shame mediate the relationship between personal childhood trauma history and VT? and (b) Among early career MHPs who have a personal childhood trauma history, does supervisory working alliance moderate the relationship between personal childhood trauma history and VT? These questions were answered using a sample of early career MHPs who were within 10 years of their graduation from a counseling masters or doctoral program. Participants completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire as an initial screening measure assessing for the presence of childhood trauma. Fifty-nine (59) participants completed the Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form (ETI-SR-SF), the Trauma and Attachment Belief Scale (TABS), the External and Internal Shame Scale (EISS), the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory-Supervisee Form (SWAI-SF), and the demographics questionnaire. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data and both moderation and mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS Macro. Results showed that early career MHPs who had increased severity of personal childhood trauma were also experiencing increased levels of VT. Results showed that shame was significant as a mediator between personal childhood trauma and VT. The supervisory working alliance did not appear significant as a moderator between personal childhood trauma and VT. This study aimed to understand the antecedents that impacted the severity and presence of VT symptoms and experiences in early career MHPs

Group Differences in Hot and Cool Executive Functioning Performance in College Students with and without a History of Child Maltreatment

We explored the degree to which a history of child maltreatment impacts performance in college settings. In recent studies, researchers have explored “hot” versus “cool” executive functioning (EF). Cool EF is comprised of cognitive processes in non-emotional settings and are known to play an important role in educational achievement. Hot EF is comprised of cognitive processes supported by emotional awareness. Given that child maltreatment is associated with emotional arousal difficulty, we explored the degree to which hot and cold EF tasks are differentially impacted by a history of child maltreatment. Our research approach involved modifying two traditional cool EF tasks (Tower of London and Go/No Go) in order to compare an individual’s performance in both the cool and heated version of the task. An important aspect of our study involved comparing the relative impact of a “social heating” (i.e., emotion faces) versus a “nonsocial heating” (monetary reward). We believed individuals with a maltreatment history would show relatively more difficulty with social heating. The data suggested that there were some sensible correlations between the subscales of a trauma questionnaire and other EF measures. Overall, we were unable to find clear group effects suggesting that a larger sample size would be beneficial