Vicarious Trauma, Resilience, and Professional Quality of Life in Clinical Psychologists Working with Psychological and Medical(Terminal) Illnesses

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.