Vicarious Trauma Scale (VTS)

The Vicarious Trauma Scale (VTS) is a short questionnaire assessing the level of subjective stress associated with working with traumatized clients. Thus, it assesses vicarious (secondary) trauma in individuals who have secondary exposure to traumatic material in their work. It consists of 8 statements with which respondents express a level of agreement. The VTS has potential as a screening tool for use in practice.

Length of completion

The entire questionnaire takes approximately 3 minutes to complete.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

By evaluating the questionnaire, the proband will know if he/she is at risk for vicarious trauma.

Keywords

Vicarious Trauma Scale, VTS, trauma, vicarious trauma, stress

Scoring and interpretation

A total score is obtained by summing the scores of all items. It ranges from 8-56 and higher scores are associated with a higher risk of vicarious trauma.

Response Scale

Statements are rated for level of agreement on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” (1) to “Strongly Agree” (7).

References

Aparicio, E., Michalopoulos, L. M., & Unick, G. J. (2013). An examination of the psychometric properties of the Vicarious Trauma Scale in a sample of licensed social workers. Health & social work, 38(4), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlt017

Benuto, L., Singer, J., Cummings, C., & Ahrendt, A. (2018). The Vicarious Trauma Scale: Confirmatory factor analysis and psychometric properties with a sample of victim advocates. Health & social care in the community, 26(4), 564–571. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12554

Jimenez, R., Andersen, S., Song, H., & Townsend, C. (2021). Vicarious trauma in mental health care providers. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 24(100451). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2021.100451

Vrklevski, L. P., & Franklin, J. (2008). Vicarious trauma: The impact on solicitors of exposure to traumatic material. Traumatology, 14(1), 106–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765607309961