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Cited by 90Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchResilience and Mental HealthCancer survivorship and care

The Benefits of Indirect Exposure to Trauma: The Relationships among Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth, Social Support, and Resilience in Ambulance Personnel in China

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Kang, Xiaofei, Fang, Yueyan, Li, Sihan, Liu, Yadong, Zhao, Di, Feng, Xiujuan, Wang, Yaqi, Li, Ping·2018·Psychiatry Investigation
DOI 10.30773/pi.2017.11.08.1PMC PMC5976003
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Ambulance personnel who witness trauma experienced by patients have been reported to experience positive changes, known as vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG). We examined VPTG and its relationship with social support and resilience among ambulance personnel. METHODS: The sample (n=227) was recruited from six emergency centers in China. The measures included the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10). Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) and the bootstrapping procedure were used to examine indirect effects. RESULTS: The participants' mean score for VPTG was 68.96 (SD=15.51). Social support had significant direct effects on resilience (β=0.51, p<0.001) and VPTG (β=0.25, p=0.001), and resilience (β=0.58, p<0.001) had a significant direct effect on VPTG. Furthermore, social support had a significant indirect effect (0.51×0.58=0.30, p<0.001) on VPTG through resilience. CONCLUSION: Although the nature of the work of ambulance personnel is not expected to change, the negative effects of the trauma they encounter can be reduced by providing them with more support resources and interventions to foster their resilience, which in turn, promote VPTG.

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  • Mutual support and supervision are predisposing factors for VPTG.

    “Wzajemne wsparcie isuperwizja są niewątpliwie czynnikami predysponującymi do VPTG [20].”

    From Does it only benefit the patient? Potentially positive impact of psychotherapy of traumatized people — on the therapist (2025) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Results and Discussion report that social support predicted VPTG among ambulance personnel, but the study measured social support broadly rather than mutual support specifically. The Methods describe objective, subjective, and support-seeking measures; they do not identify supervision as a measured factor. The Discussion also cautions that the cross-sectional design cannot establish causality, so calling these factors unequivocally predisposing overstates the finding. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Kang, X., Fang, Y., Li, S., Liu, Y., Zhao, D., Feng, X., Wang, Y., & Li, P.
Affiliations
  • Shandong University (CN)
  • Shandong Chest Hospital (CN)
Corresponding author
Li, Ping
ORCID
Venue
Psychiatry Investigation
Publisher
Korean Neuropsychiatric Association
Published
2018-05-25
Volume
15
Issue
5
Pages
452-459
ISSN
  • 1738-3684 (ISSN-L)
  • 1976-3026
DOI
10.30773/pi.2017.11.08.1
PMC
PMC5976003
OpenAlex
W2802636509
Cited by
90
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 12
FWCI
7.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychiatry Investigation (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (ZR2015HM064)
  • Shandong University (IFYT15010)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
Keywords
vicarious posttraumatic growth, social support, resilience, ambulance personnel, emergency medical personnel, occupational injuries

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