TY - JOUR
T1 - Life satisfaction, psychological distress, compassion satisfaction and resilience
T2 - when the pleasure of helping others protects veterinary staff from emotional suffering
AU - Peixoto, Maria Manuela
AU - Cunha, Olga
N1 - © 2024. The Author(s).
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - Introduction: Individuals working in veterinary field suffer significantly from mental health problems, and research has extensively focused on psychological and work-related predictors of psychological distress. This study intended to approach psychological distress through a positive lens by investigating the predictive role of life satisfaction on psychological distress in veterinary staff, and the mediating effect of compassion satisfaction, resilience and perceived social support. Methodology: A total of 868 veterinary staff (i.e. veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary assistants and veterinary administrative staff) completed a web-survey assessing life satisfaction, psychological distress, compassion satisfaction, resilience, and social support. Results: Life satisfaction negatively predicts psychological distress, and compassion satisfaction and resilience showed a mediation effect on the relationship between life satisfaction and psychological distress, with compassion satisfaction explaining 59% and resilience 6.4% of the effect of life satisfaction on psychological distress. Conclusion: Current data support the role of life satisfaction as a protective dimension on psychological distress within a broader sample population of veterinary staff in Portugal, highlighting the role of compassion satisfaction and resilience in contributing in minimising distress among veterinary staff.
AB - Introduction: Individuals working in veterinary field suffer significantly from mental health problems, and research has extensively focused on psychological and work-related predictors of psychological distress. This study intended to approach psychological distress through a positive lens by investigating the predictive role of life satisfaction on psychological distress in veterinary staff, and the mediating effect of compassion satisfaction, resilience and perceived social support. Methodology: A total of 868 veterinary staff (i.e. veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary assistants and veterinary administrative staff) completed a web-survey assessing life satisfaction, psychological distress, compassion satisfaction, resilience, and social support. Results: Life satisfaction negatively predicts psychological distress, and compassion satisfaction and resilience showed a mediation effect on the relationship between life satisfaction and psychological distress, with compassion satisfaction explaining 59% and resilience 6.4% of the effect of life satisfaction on psychological distress. Conclusion: Current data support the role of life satisfaction as a protective dimension on psychological distress within a broader sample population of veterinary staff in Portugal, highlighting the role of compassion satisfaction and resilience in contributing in minimising distress among veterinary staff.
KW - Adult
KW - Animal Technicians/psychology
KW - Empathy
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Job Satisfaction
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Personal Satisfaction
KW - Portugal
KW - Psychological Distress
KW - Resilience, Psychological
KW - Stress, Psychological/psychology
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - Veterinarians/psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201570728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11259-024-10510-0
DO - 10.1007/s11259-024-10510-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 39162767
AN - SCOPUS:85201570728
SN - 0165-7380
VL - 48
SP - 3489
EP - 3498
JO - Veterinary Research Communications
JF - Veterinary Research Communications
IS - 5
ER -