journal_vol49no3 - 43

Work Factors and Trauma Exposure
Compassion fatigue describes the broad experience of reduced empathetic
capacity or interest in bearing the suffering of others.
5-point frequency (never, sometimes, regularly, often, very often) or a Likert scale (strongly
disagree, disagree, do not disagree/do not agree, agree, strongly agree). We used the entire
OLBi instrument, which included two subscales: exhaustion and disengagement. All
burnout items were measured on a 4-point Likert-type scale (strongly disagree, disagree,
agree, strongly agree), and negatively worded items were reverse scored. Both instruments
demonstrated strong reliability and validity across different occupations and
organizations (e.g., Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Nahrgang et al., 2011). The study was
approved by the Institutional Review Board at Bowling Green State University.
Data Collection
The four criteria for participation were holding a master's degree or higher; being
employed full time at a U.S. postsecondary institution; working in a disability,
LGBTQIA+, multicultural, women and gender office, housing/residence life, student
conduct, Title IX, on-call, or case manager role; and helping students experiencing
trauma. In 2020, the survey was distributed to eligible members by the American
College Personnel Association (ACPA; n = 1,160), Association of College and University
Housing Officers-International (ACUHO-I; n = 15,693), Association of Student
Conduct Administrators (ASCA; n = 2,263), and Association of Title IX Administrators
(n = 2,030). Additionally, it was posted to listservs for professionals working in
disabled student services and in women's centers as well as a social media group for
ASCA women and student conduct officers. Data were extracted from a larger survey
of student affairs professionals and included only participants working in housing
and residence life and/or in on-call/case manager roles (N = 803).
Limitations
Data were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study asked participants
to select all traumatic experiences they helped others with over the previous 30 days.
Participants could select all traumatic experiences, as identified by Lynch and Glass
(2019), and could enter other traumatic experiences not covered. Further research is
needed to understand the specific effects of COVID-19 on the experiences of HRL professionals
related to trauma exposure. However, anecdotally, many participants named
COVID-19 explicitly as a source of trauma. These data, combined with Barnes' (2013)
continuum, suggest that both the direct and secondary impact of exposure to and fear
of the prolonged effects of COVID-19 may have affected the findings in this study.
Some gender and racial categories were combined and recategorized because
a minimum number of participants in each category were necessary for meaningful
statistical analysis. In consultation with student affairs experts in race/ethnicity and
gender identity descriptors, categories were combined with attention to care and representation.
For example, Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander participants
were combined and coded as AANAPI. No participants identified as transwoman,
transfemale, or transfeminine.
40 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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