Exploratory factor analysis of shared trauma in psychiatric-mental health nurses using the Shared Trauma Professional Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (STPPG)

Abstract

Introduction: The Shared Trauma Professional Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (STPPG) was developed by Tosone et al. (2014) to help understand shared trauma (ST) in social workers. ST occurs when the healthcare professional and client both experience the same collective traumatic event. This inventory has been adapted for use with mental health nurses. A cross-sectional study of N = 552 mental health nurses was completed in the spring of 2023 to assess the feasibility of using the STPPG to explore shared trauma in mental health nurses.

Methods: An exploratory factor analysis was run for the STPPG using squared multiple correlations with the maximum likelihood method.

Results: The alpha coefficient ranged from 0.82 to 0.89 for 2-factors and 0.73 to 0.89 for 3-factors. The results indicated that all correlations were significant among the total scales and subscales. All correlations were positive, ranging from 0.81 to 0.95 for two factors and 0.58 to 0.89 for three factors.

Conclusion: The STPPG has confirmed a two-factor analysis for mental health nurses. The STPPG is a valid inventory to measure ST in mental health nurses and will allow the concept to be further studied.

Keywords: Factor analysis; Nurse; Shared trauma.