Identifying Risk Factors for Compassion Fatigue in Psychologists in Aotearoa, New Zealand, During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Psychologists work extensively with people experiencing personal and mental health difficulties, providing psychological support and therapeutic interventions. While past research has established that psychologists are at risk of secondary traumatic stress and burnout (together comprising compassion fatigue), little is known about the professional and personal circumstances that mitigate their risk. The present study surveyed mental health symptoms and professional quality of life among 149 registered psychologists in Aotearoa, New Zealand (4.1% of the workforce). A broad range of experiences was considered, including psychologists' symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, and resilience, along with contextual factors including caseload, professional support, and personal circumstances, in the second year of the pandemic. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression were used to identify variables that predicted compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Although psychologists find their work rewarding and satisfying, our results indicate a high rate of psychological distress and risk of compassion fatigue in our cohort of psychologists, partly associated with increased stress from COVID-19. This study identifies risk factors including COVID-19-related stress, working with clients at risk, and symptoms of stress and anxiety, accounting for 59% of the variance in compassion fatigue. Additional informal supervision support, resilience, and increased employer support were predictive of increased compassion satisfaction. It is imperative to focus on professional support, personal well-being, and manageable caseloads, to ensure a future sustainable psychology workforce. Public Significance Statement Psychologists in New Zealand report high average levels of compassion fatigue (burnout and secondary traumatic stress), stress and depressive symptoms, and low resilience, but good compassion satisfaction. Compassion fatigue is associated with stress, anxiety, COVID-19-related stress, and working with clients at risk; while compassion satisfaction is linked with additional supervision, employer support, and resilience. Psychologists' own well-being and professional quality of life should be of utmost concern for our profession, to ensure quality and sustainability of the mental health workforce.