Professional quality of life of child welfare workers and psychotherapists working with traumatized young unaccompanied refugees in Germany : a cross-sectional study

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Background
Burnout symptoms and secondary traumatic stress are especially high among Child Welfare Workers (CWWs) and psychotherapists and might have increased since the recent increase in refugee numbers. Little is known about the wellbeing of CWW and psychotherapists working with unaccompanied young refugees (UYR), especially in German child and youth welfare facilities where they work closely together. This study aims to assess levels of compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), and secondary traumatic stress (STS) in German CWWs and psychotherapists, examining connections to demographic variables and group differences.
Methods
N = 198 CWW and N = 97 psychotherapists were assessed via the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL). Descriptive statistics, t-test for independent samples, correlations between the ProQOL scales and hierarchical regression analyses with demographic variables as predictors were computed.
Results
Both samples showed average to high levels of CS, and low to average levels of BO and STS. CWWs scored significantly higher than psychotherapists on BO and STS. In CWW, demographic variables were not associated with CS, BO or STS. Among psychotherapists, previous experiences in working with UYR (β = 0.38; p <.001) were positively associated with CS. Factors such as weekly therapy sessions (β = − 0.35, p =.001) and the psychotherapist’s migration background (β = − 0.20, p =.048) were negatively associated with STS. The number of PTSD cases treated (β = 0.27, p =.018) and additional training (β = 0.31, p =.006) were positively associated with STS.
Conclusion
Among psychotherapists, prior experience in working with UYRs may contribute to elevated levels of CS, whereas a higher number of previously treated PTSD cases appears to be associated with increased STS. Further research on the influence of sociodemographic variables is needed for CWWs to identify protective and risk factors. Supporting and training CWWs and psychotherapists is crucial for quality treatment of traumatized UYRs.