Secondary trauma.

A review of secondary trauma is presented. Secondary trauma involves the transfer and acquisition of negative affective and dysfunctional cognitive states due to prolonged and extended contact with others, such as family members, who have been traumatized. As such, secondary trauma refers to a spread of trauma from the victim to those who have close contact with the traumatized individual. It is claimed by some that exposure to intense video presentations of traumatic events can also lead to secondary traumatization. Assessment devices are reviewed and most of these appear to be designed to assess secondary or vicarious traumatization in therapists rather than in the general population. Most scales lack cutoff scores and this is a significant weakness. The modified Stroop procedure is presented as a non-paper and pencil method of assessing secondary trauma reactions. The evaluation of the efficacy of therapeutic interventions for secondary traumatization is virtually non-existent. Systematic studies of secondary trauma are in their infancy and a good deal of further research is needed.