Open AccessThe moderating impact of interacting with distressed families of decedents on trauma exposure in medical examiner personnel.
Author(s) -
Jennifer A. Coleman,
Douglas L. Delahanty,
Joseph E. Schwartz,
Kristina Murani,
Elizabeth Brondolo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
psychological trauma
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.059
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1942-9681
pISSN - 1942-969X
DOI - 10.1037/tra0000097
Subject(s) - medicine , depression (economics) , psycinfo , psychiatry , occupational safety and health , clinical psychology , medline , pathology , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Prior research has examined the incidence of posttraumatic stress stemming from either direct or indirect trauma exposure in employees of high-risk occupations. However, few studies have examined the contribution of both direct and indirect trauma exposure in high-risk groups. One particularly salient indirect trauma often endorsed as the most stressful by many occupational groups is interacting with distressed family members of victims of crime, illness, or accidents. The present study examined the extent to which interacting with distressed families moderated the impact of cumulative potentially traumatic event (PTE) exposure on depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in 245 employees of medical examiner (ME) offices.