Citation: Gurowiec, P.J.; Ogi ´ nska-Bulik, N.; Michalska, P.; K˛ edra, E. The Relationship between Social Support and Secondary Posttraumatic Growth among Health Care Providers Working with Trauma Victims—The Mediating Role of Cognitive Processing. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4985. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph19094985 Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou Received: 17 February 2022 Accepted: 15 April 2022 Published: 20 April 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article The Relationship between Social Support and Secondary Posttraumatic Growth among Health Care Providers Working with Trauma Victims—The Mediating Role of Cognitive Processing Piotr Jerzy Gurowiec 1,2 , Nina Ogi ´ nska-Bulik 3 , Paulina Michalska 3, * and Edyta K ˛ edra 1 1 Medical Institute, State Higher Vocation School in Glogow, 67-210 Glogow, Poland; piotr73-1973@tlen.pl (P.J.G.); edyta.kedra@wp.pl (E.K.) 2 Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 7, Upper Silesia Medical Centre of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-752 Katowice, Poland 3 Department of Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, 91-433 Lodz, Poland; janina.oginska@now.uni.lodz.pl * Correspondence: paulina.michalska92@gmail.com Abstract: Background: Individuals, who help trauma victims as part of their professional responsibil- ities, may experience positive effects of their work, occurring in the form of Secondary Posttraumatic Growth (SPTG). Its determinants include environmental factors such as social support, and individual characteristics, particularly cognitive processing of the trauma. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between SPTG and social support and cognitive processing of trauma, also considered as a mediator, in a group of medical personnel exposed to secondary trauma. Methods: The results of 408 participants, paramedics and nurses, were analyzed. Three measurement tools were used: the Secondary Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Social Support Scale measuring four sources of support and the Cognitive Trauma Processing Scale to assess five cognitive coping strate- gies. Results: The results indicated that SPTG was positively related to social support and cognitive coping strategies. Cognitive coping strategies act as a mediator in the relationship between social support and SPTG. Conclusions: Despite their exposure to secondary traumatization, paramedics and nursing staff experience positive consequences of their work related to helping injured people. In order to promote growth after trauma, it is advisable to encourage medical representatives to use social support and primarily positive coping strategies. Keywords: cognitive; processing; trauma; mediation; medical personnel; secondary traumatic growth; social support 1. Introduction As a group, medical personnel are regularly exposed to professional stress, including traumatic stress [1–5]. In the process of helping people who have experienced trauma, medical personnel also become indirectly exposed to that trauma. The type of trauma includes, but is not limited to, accidents (most often traffic accidents), violence, and also serious, life-threatening illnesses [6]. The term vicarious traumatic exposure has been used to refer to indirect traumatic exposure [7]. With up to 80% of the general population experiencing a traumatic event within their lifetime, indirect exposure to trauma could be considered relatively common among health professionals [8]. As first responders, medical personnel are usually the first to provide assistance to victims. The negative consequences of indirect trauma are usually reflected in the form of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), also known as Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder (STSD) [9]. Secondary traumatic stress is a disorder caused primarily by negative reactions from a person directly exposed to trauma. This coverage of secondary trauma was primarily due to the modification of the Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 4985. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094985 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph