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Compassion fatigue as a separate construct: The development of a new scale

Nordström, Jennie LU and Eng, Linnéa LU (2020) PSPR14 20201
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Compassion fatigue is often used interchangeably with burnout and secondary traumatic stress in literature. There is, however, theoretical support for considering compassion fatigue as a separate condition. The aim of this pilot study was to create a compassion fatigue scale and examine its relation to burnout and secondary traumatic stress as well as to explore how descriptive variables affect levels of compassion fatigue. Using a quantitative design, data was collected from 651 psychologists working in Sweden who completed a survey with questions from Compassion Fatigue Inventory, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a final version of the Compassion Fatigue... (More)
Compassion fatigue is often used interchangeably with burnout and secondary traumatic stress in literature. There is, however, theoretical support for considering compassion fatigue as a separate condition. The aim of this pilot study was to create a compassion fatigue scale and examine its relation to burnout and secondary traumatic stress as well as to explore how descriptive variables affect levels of compassion fatigue. Using a quantitative design, data was collected from 651 psychologists working in Sweden who completed a survey with questions from Compassion Fatigue Inventory, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a final version of the Compassion Fatigue Inventory with high internal consistency and three subfactors: Reduced Compassion, Social Life and Workplace. The Reduced Compassion factor accounted for 40.9 % of the variance, which suggests a narrower conceptualization of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue had a high correlation with burnout and secondary traumatic stress. The only background variable related to compassion fatigue was years of work experience. The final version of Compassion Fatigue Inventory can be useful in examining reduced compassion in psychologists. The results indicate possible differences between the three conditions, but more research is needed to further explore this. (Less)
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author
Nordström, Jennie LU and Eng, Linnéa LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSPR14 20201
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Compassion fatigue, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, stress of conscience, psychologists, Compassion Fatigue Model, Compassion Fatigue Inventory, CFI, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, CBI, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, STSS, scale development
language
English
id
9013081
date added to LUP
2020-06-08 09:47:24
date last changed
2020-06-08 09:47:24
@misc{9013081,
  abstract     = {{Compassion fatigue is often used interchangeably with burnout and secondary traumatic stress in literature. There is, however, theoretical support for considering compassion fatigue as a separate condition. The aim of this pilot study was to create a compassion fatigue scale and examine its relation to burnout and secondary traumatic stress as well as to explore how descriptive variables affect levels of compassion fatigue. Using a quantitative design, data was collected from 651 psychologists working in Sweden who completed a survey with questions from Compassion Fatigue Inventory, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a final version of the Compassion Fatigue Inventory with high internal consistency and three subfactors: Reduced Compassion, Social Life and Workplace. The Reduced Compassion factor accounted for 40.9 % of the variance, which suggests a narrower conceptualization of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue had a high correlation with burnout and secondary traumatic stress. The only background variable related to compassion fatigue was years of work experience. The final version of Compassion Fatigue Inventory can be useful in examining reduced compassion in psychologists. The results indicate possible differences between the three conditions, but more research is needed to further explore this.}},
  author       = {{Nordström, Jennie and Eng, Linnéa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Compassion fatigue as a separate construct: The development of a new scale}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}