Personal trauma history and secondary traumatic stress in mental health professionals: A systematic review

Introduction Caring for those who have been traumatized can place mental health professionals at risk of secondary traumatic stress, particularly in those with their own experience of personal trauma. Aim To identify the prevalence of personal trauma history and secondary traumatic stress in mental health professionals and whether there is an association between these two variables in mental health professionals. Method We preregistered the review with PROSPERO (CRD42022322939) and followed PRISMA guidelines. Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science and CINHAL were searched up until 17th August 2023. Articles were included if they assessed both personal trauma history and secondary traumatic stress in mental health professionals. Data on the prevalence and association between these variables were extracted. Quality assessment of included studies was conducted using an adapted form of the Newcastle‐Ottawa scale. Results A total of 23 studies were included. Prevalence of personal trauma history ranged from 19%–81%, secondary traumatic stress ranged from 19% to 70%. Eighteen studies reported on the association between personal trauma history and secondary traumatic stress, with 14 out of 18 studies finding a statistically significant positive relationship between these variables. The majority of studies were of fair methodological quality. Discussion Mental health professionals with a personal history of trauma are at heightened risk of suffering from secondary traumatic stress. Implications for Practice Targeted support should be provided to professionals to prevent and/or address secondary traumatic stress in the workforce.