Social support and vicarious posttraumatic growth among psychological hotline counselors during COVID-19: the role of resilience and cognitive reappraisal

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ demographic characteristics (N = 241).

Characteristics	Categories	n (%)
Gender	Male	22 (9.1%)
	Female	219 (90.9%)
Age	17–29	41 (17%)
	30–39	63 (26.1%)
	40–49	85 (35.3%)
	≧50	52 (21.6%)
Education	Associate degree	85 (35.3%)
	Bachelor’s degree	80 (33.2%)
	Master’s/Doctoral degree	76 (31.5%)
Years of work	0–5 years	140 (58.1%)
	6–10 years	63 (26.1%)
	≧11 years	38 (15.8%)
Professional qualification certificate	Yes	196 (81.3%)
	No	45 (18.7%)
Receive professional supervision	Yes	138 (57.3%)
	No	103 (42.7%)
Receive ethics training	Yes	173 (71.8%)
	No	68 (28.2%)

Table 2. Association between demographic variables and VPTG of psychological hotline counselors.

Demographic variables		n	Low-level of VPTG, n (%)	Moderate level of VPTG, n (%)	High levels of VPTG, n (%)	χ^2	P
Gender	Male	22	3 (13.6)	5 (22.7)	14 (63.6)	5.87	0.053
	Female	219	20 (9.1)	109 (49.8)	90 (41.1)
Age	17–29	41	7 (17.1)	21 (51.2)	13 (31.7)	12.45	0.053
	30–39	63	7 (11.1)	35 (55.6)	21 (33.3)
	40–49	85	8 (9.4)	34 (40.0)	43 (50.6)
	≧50	52	1 (1.9)	24 (46.2)	27 (51.9)
Education	Associate degree	85	6 (7.1)	40 (47.1)	39 (45.9)	1.75	0.781
	Bachelor’s degree	80	10 (12.5)	36 (45.0)	34 (42.5)
	Master/Doctor degree	76	7 (9.2)	38 (50.0)	31 (40.8)
Years of work	0–5	140	12 (8.6)	64 (46.0)	63 (45.3)	1.46	0.834
	6–10	63	8 (12.5)	30 (46.9)	26 (40.6)
	≧11	38	3 (7.9)	20 (52.6)	15 (39.5)
Professional qualification certificate	Yes	196	19 (9.7)	83 (42.3)	94 (48.0)	11.09	0.004
	No	45	4 (8.9)	31 (68.9)	10 (22.2)
Receive professional supervision	Yes	138	8 (5.8)	62 (44.9)	68 (49.3)	7.94	0.019
	No	103	15 (14.6)	52 (50.5)	36 (35)
Receive ethics training	Yes	173	15 (8.7)	77 (44.5)	81 (46.8)	3.41	0.182
	No	68	8 (11.8)	37 (54.4)	23 (33.8)

Note: N = 241.

Table 3. Means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations.

	M	SD	1	2	3	4
1.Social support	45.99	8.84	1
2.Resilience	72.47	13.50	0.49**	1
3.Cognitive reappraisal	31.78	6.05	0.35**	0.45**	1
4.VPTG	64.14	21.06	0.29**	0.39**	0.42**	1

Note: VPTG = Vicarious posttraumatic growth. **P < 0.01.

Figure 1. Serial mediation of social support, resilience, Cognitive reappraisal and VPTG. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

The direct path of social support and vicarious posttraumatic growth was not significant, but social support affected the vicarious posttraumatic growth of hotline counselors through the chain mediating effect of resilience and cognitive reappraisal.

Table 4. Direct and indirect effects for the mediation analyses.

	Estimates	Bootstrapping 95% CI
		Lower	Upper
Social support →VPTG	0.12	−0.11	0.35
Social support →Resilience →VPTG	0.13	0.03	0.26
Social support →Cognitive reappraisal →VPTG	0.06	0.01	0.14
Social support →Resilience →Cognitive reappraisal →VPTG	0.06	0.02	0.11

Note: VPTG = Vicarious posttraumatic growth.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.