Covariates of Burnout and Secondary Traumatisation in Professionals Working with Child Survivors of Trauma: A Research Synthesis

Abstract

Abstract It has been demonstrated that working with trauma-exposed children increases the risk for developing secondary traumatisation (ST) and burnout (BO). High correlations between ST and BO have been reported, suggesting an empirical overlap between the constructs. The purpose of the present review was to synthesise research investigating covariates of BO and ST to explore whether this overlap extends to covariates. Seven research databases were searched for studies investigating covariates of both BO and ST. Identified studies were screened in accordance with predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in thirteen articles being included for further review. Fourteen covariates were examined in two or more of the included studies and were synthesised according to the ‘levels of evidence approach’. Some individual and operational factors appeared to be equally related to BO and ST. There was a predominance of equivocal evidence for and against the salience of different covariates as well as an over-representation of demographic factors compared to organisational and operational factors in the current literature. More research investigating the nature of the overlap between BO and ST is needed, and future research would benefit from integrating covariates supported in the work and organisational literature with covariates from the psychotraumatological literature.