Abstract:
Abstract
The primary goal of the study was to investigate the relationship between vicarious
trauma, resilience, and professional quality of life in clinical psychologists working with
psychological and medical (terminal) illnesses, as well as to identify predictors of professional
quality of life and the meditative role of resilience in these clinical psychologists. A differential
research design was used. The sample of the study was clinical psychologists (N=300) and they
were selected using purposive sampling from different government and private hospitals and
private clinics. The questionnaires used in the study were the Vicarious Trauma Scale (Vrklevski
& Franklin, 2008), the Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al, 2008), and the Professional Quality of
Life Scale Version 5 (Stamm, 2010). In clinical psychologists working with psychological and
medical (terminal) illnesses, differences in the nature of the job are significant in terms of
vicarious trauma, resilience, and secondary traumatic stress. Results showed that differences in
the caseload and trauma history are significant in terms of vicarious trauma, resilience, and
professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress).
Clinical psychologists working with psychological and medical (terminal) disorders found that
vicarious trauma and resilience were major predictors of professional quality of life (compassion
satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress). Vicarious trauma has a substantial
negative correlation with compassion satisfaction but a positive correlation with burnout and
subsequent traumatic stress. Resilience has a positive association with compassion satisfaction,
but a significant negative relationship with subsequent traumatic stress and burnout.
Furthermore, the findings revealed that resilience partially mediated the relationship between
vicarious trauma and professional quality of life among clinical psychologists working with
psychological and medical (terminal) illnesses. The results obtained can be used by researchers to develop targeted interventions to manage professional quality of life in clinical psychologists.
The study highlights the role of resilience in mitigating the influence of vicarious trauma,
thereby improving the professional quality of life in clinical psychologists. The outcome may be
used to increase awareness among clinical psychologists about the potential risks associated with
vicarious trauma and lack of resilience.
