1. Introduction Results Method Discussion
Spillover of compassion fatigue into marriage quality: the role of self-differentiation, professional self-esteem, Colleague support, and traumatic life events
Ricky Finzi-Dottan, Ph.D.; Bar Ilan University, School of Social Work, ISRAEL ? ?
Introduction
It has been acknowledged that helping professionals treating populations exposed to trauma and stressful life events might experience strong emotions, which can undermine their therapeutic ability and affect other areas of their lives. The term 'Compassion Fatigue' (CF), defined by Figley (1995), refers to a multi-dimensional phenomenon including emotional, physical, cognitive and behavioral components resulting from accumulated stress in helping-professionals. CF has three components: secondary traumatization (ST—feeling "infected" by the patients' stress); burnout; compassion satisfaction (CS- satisfaction from easing the clients' distress).
Based on the conservation of resources theory (COR theory, Hobfol, 1989, 2002), the present study aimed to examine how personality resources (differentiation of the self), and professional and systemic resources (professional self-esteem and colleagues’ support), might decrease work-induced strain (compassion fatigue), as well as the spillover from work into the family life and marriage quality of social workers treating traumatized and very distressed populations.
Results
Multiple regression analyses predicting spillover of professional life into family life and quality of marriage life (n=202)
Spillover
Marriage quality
Predictor
ΔR² β
Step 1: Personal variables
.02
Marriage durationa
-.15*
-.17*
Work experienceb
.07
.18*
Step 2: Life events
.00
.01
Personal life events
-.07
-.13
Family life events
.14
.04
Step 3: Resources
.07***
.08***
Self-differentiation
-.26***
.10
Professional self-esteem
-.02
.35***
Colleague support
-.12
-.10
Step 4: Work repercussions
.17***
.06**
Secondary traumatization
.31***
-.14
Burnout
Compassion satisfaction
.22**
Step 5: (only for Marriage quality)
.02*
------
-.24**
Interactions
.06***
.09***
Differentiation X Burnout
.19*
Spillover X Personal Life Events R²
.32***
.28***
Research model
Resources:
a. Personality: Differentiation of self
b. Professional: Professional self-esteem
c. Systemic: Colleagues’ support
Compassion Fatigue:
Secondary traumatization
Burnout
Compassion satisfaction
Marriage quality
Spillover
* p<.05 ** p<.01 *** p<.001 Note: a years of marriage; b years of therapeutic work
Life events
Low level of self-differentiation exacerbates the impact of burnout on spillover.
Population
202 social workers (90% women, Mage=34.21, ±5.72 SD, age range: years). participated in this study with the inclusion criterion that they are married. 46% had been married for 1 to 5 years (Mmarriage's yrs=9.04, ±8.33 SD). 58% had at least a master's degree and the rest had a B.A. degree. The distribution of areas of social work was as follows: 50% of the participants worked with high-risk child and teenager populations; 20% worked with multi-problem families; 20% worked in mental health system, and 10% worked with drug and alcohol addicts and prisoner and probation. Work experience ranged from 2 to 15 years (M=6.8; ±5.60 SD).
93% received supervision at their work place, and ¼ were undergoing therapy.
Instruments
Professional Quality of Life - (Stamm, 2002). 30-item, composing 3 subscales: Secondary Traumatic Stress - =0.71; Burnout - = 0.51 (omitted);
Compassion satisfaction - = 0.84.
Burnout item Burnout Measure Short (BMS) (Pines, 2005); =0.84.
Work-Family Linkage Questionnaire (Sumer & Knight, 2001). 12 items examining spillover from work life into family life; =0.74.
Marriage Life Quality - (short –ENRICH; Olson & Fower, 1993). 10 items examining: spouse's characteristics and behaviors, communication, problem solving, managing family finances, sex and affection, parenting, relations with offspring, family and friends, chore division and trust. = 0.79.
Life events stressful life events (Solomon, 1995).
Level of Self-differentiation Scale (Haber, 1984, 1993). 32 statements examining emotional maturity & emotional dependency that highly correlated (r = 0.72), total score- = 0.86.
The Professional Self-Esteem Scale (Carmel, 1997); 8 items; = 0.88.
Colleague Support questionnaire (Aviram & Katan, 1989). 4 items examining providing empathy, support & listening; = 0.91.
Method
High level of self-differentiation moderates the impact of burnout on marriage quality.
The fewer the number of personal life events, the higher is the negative impact of spillover to marriage quality..
Path model of marriage quality
Professional self-esteem
.59***
.33***
Compassion satisfaction
.18*
-.17*
Marriage
quality
Differentiation
.29**
-.22**
Spillover
Burnout
-.19*
R²=.24
R²=.13
-.30***
.32***
Secondary traumatization
Family life events
-.13*
Our findings bolster Hobfoll's (1989, 2002) notion that among the various resource categories, personal characteristics are those which augment the individual's general
resilience in stressful situations. The results emphasize the importance of a personal resource, such as self-differentiation, for reducing negative work impacts and spillover
into married life, and support Hobfoll's (2002) assertion that people with resources are less likely to encounter stressful circumstances that negatively affect their well-being.
Differentiation of the self, viewed as personality hardiness, provides our participants with a sense of control over the vicissitudes of their work, may provide a sense that
stressors represent challenges rather than threats, as well as a sense of commitment to the tasks associated with their work, and thus mitigate burnout. Our results,
showing that professional self-esteem contributes to reduced CF and increased CS, and even to marriage quality, lend support to another of Hobfall's assertions, that those
who possess resources needed to fit demands are more capable of solving the problems inherent in stressful circumstances. Professional self-esteem provided our
participants not only with the efficacy to handle the stress accompanied by the hardiness inherent in their therapeutic work, but moreover improved their coping with their
marriage conflicts, thereby amplifying its quality. Accordingly, this finding warrants empowering helping professionals by providing supervision and further studies to
reduce ST and burnout by enhancing self-esteem and a sense of self-fulfillment. As for colleague support, contrary to our hypothesis, it seems to be a resource that drained
our participants when coping with CF and its consequences.
Discussion