Stress and Quality of Life Normative and non-normative events help us understand how change and stress may impact our quality of life. Using the South University Library, locate 2 scholarly journal ar

Methods: Mental health staff (N = 156) working in a counselling service completed a questionnaire that included measures relating to profes- sional quality of life, the Five-Factor Model of personality, workplace belongingness, as well as questions relating to the participants’ demo- graphic profile, work roles, and trauma history.

Results: The results indicated that high levels of emotional stability (low neuroticism), extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and being connected at work, are essential factors that promote the professional quality of life of mental health workers. Specifically, workplace belongingness was the strongest predictor of compassion satisfaction and low levels of burnout, while neuroticism was the strongest predictor of secondary traumatic stress.

Conclusions: Important implications from this study include: (a) encouraging mental health staff to increase self-awareness of their dispositional characteristics and how their personalities affect their well-being at work; and (b) encouraging management to facilitate practices where mental health workers feel connected, respected, and supported in their organisation.

Key words: five-factor model; mental health workers; mental well-being; personality; professional quality of life; workplace belongingness.

What is already known on this topic 1 Mental health workers may experience negative psychological outcomes as a result of their interaction with their clients.

2 Past studies have focused on socio-demographic variables, edu- cation level and training, and history of trauma as predictors of professional quality of life in mental health workers.

3 Five-Factor Model of personality had been useful in predicting how individuals adapt to both trauma and ongoing stress in their lives. What this paper adds 1 This paper provides a holistic approach in identifying personality traits and workplace factors that may reduce the chances of mental health workers experiencing secondary trauma and burnout, and facilitating opportunities for workers to experi- ence compassion satisfaction.

2 Compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary trauma are predicted by different factors. Organisations should target dif- ferent variables (e.g., dispositional characteristics and work- place factors) to reduce the risk of secondary traumatic stress and burnout symptoms, and to promote compassion satisfac- tion in mental health workers.

3 This study highlighted the benefits of workplace belongingness. Feeling valued at work may facilitate satisfaction in mental health workers and act as a protective buffer from burnout.

Mental health workers are often exposed to the trauma and psychological stress of their clients. This emotionally charged work may impact on the workers’ professional quality of life and their ability to provide the best services to their clients (Larsen & Stamm, 2008). Thus, it is important to ensure that the well-being of mental health workers is promoted and main- tained, not only for their own wellness, but also for the com- munity members that utilise their services. Professional Quality of Life Professional quality of life describes the positive and negative mental health outcomes that individuals may experience in their role as a helper (Stamm, 2010). Research has documented the negative mental health consequences that mental health Correspondence:

Klaire Somoray, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Gro, Bris- bane, QLD 4034, Australia. Email: [email protected] Accepted for publication 29 August 2015 doi:10.1111/ap.12182 Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 1 Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 52 bs_bs_banner practitioners may experience when exposed to their clients’ trauma and distress (Figley, 1995; Linley & Joseph, 2007). For instance, secondary traumatic stress (STS) may occur when workers become overwhelmed by an indirect exposure to someone else’s trauma, often reflecting the symptoms of post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Figley, 1995). Mental health workers with STS become preoccupied with their client’s stories, which may place them at risk of impaired professional judgements and an inability to develop therapeutic relationships (Bride, Radey, & Figley, 2007). Bride et al. argued that mental health workers are often at risk of developing STS as they assist their clients to repeatedly recall memories of trauma and distress during therapy.Professionals who provide psychological services may also experience burnout, which is defined as the state of a gradual, physical, and mental exhaustion that is caused by long-term involvement in emotionally demanding situations (Maslach & Jackson, 1981). Individuals who experience high levels of burnout feel bogged down by their organisation’s system and daily work hassles (Stamm, 2010). High levels of burnout in mental health workers have been associated with strained relationships with clients and a lack of perceived efficacy at work (Larsen & Stamm, 2008). Together, STS and burnout comprise the concept of “compassion fatigue” according to the recent literature regarding professional quality of life (Stamm, 2010). Stamm argued that the combination of STS (psycho- logical distress from indirect trauma) and burnout (emotional exhaustion from demanding situations) places mental health workers at risk of being overwhelmed in their role as a helper. Despite the challenging work environment, most mental health workers experience a sense of achievement and joy in their jobs (Linley & Joseph, 2007). These positive outcomes have been labelled “compassion satisfaction” (Stamm, 2010). In a US national survey of trauma therapists, more than a quarter of the participants reported high levels of compassion satisfac- tion and only 10% (p. 328) reported high levels of burnout and STS (Craig & Sprang, 2010). Larsen and Stamm (2008) argued that individuals with high levels of compassion satisfaction are more likely to feel positive about their colleagues and recognise the importance of their profession. Research on the positive consequences of mental health work, however, is scarce. To provide a more well-rounded picture of mental health workers’ well-being, this study will examine the positive and negative outcomes of mental health work by measuring compassion sat- isfaction, burnout, and STS concurrently.

Individual and Workplace Predictors of Professional Quality of Life Professional quality of life is influenced by an individual’s per- sonal characteristics, work environment, and their clients’ attributes (Stamm, 2010). Past studies have focused on socio- demographic variables (Sprang, Clark, & Whitt-Woosley, 2007), workers’ education level and training (Linley & Joseph, 2007), and history of trauma (Baird & Kracen, 2006) as predictors of professional quality of life in mental health workers. For instance, research has found that a history of trauma increases mental health workers’ risk of developing STS (e.g., Baird & Kracen, 2006; Killian, 2008) but also promotes their personal growth (e.g., Linley & Joseph, 2007).

The influence of dispositional characteristics on the outcomes of mental health work is often neglected in research. Although personality traits are inherent in an individual’s nature and can be difficult to change (McCrae & Costa, 1995), it is important to investigate mental health workers’ views of the world and dis- positional traits because these personal factors could impact on their coping mechanisms, and consequently their well-being at work and in client interactions (Killian, 2008; Zeidner, Hadar, Matthews, & Roberts, 2013). In addition to personality traits, workplace factors also influ- ence individual’s professional quality of life (Stamm, 2010). For instance, being connected at work has been associated with fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010; Cockshaw, Shochet, & Obst, 2013) and burnout (Huynh, Xanthopoulou, & Winefield, 2014). Research has sug- gested that organisational variables and daily work stressors are more predictive of post-trauma outcomes than individual vari- ables (e.g., personal trauma history, coping strategies; Killian, 2008), but these factors are rarely investigated simultaneously.

To extend the current literature on the well-being of helping professionals, this research will investigate the role of personal- ity traits and workplace belongingness in predicting the profes- sional quality of life of mental health workers. Personality The Five-Factor Model (FFM) is comprised of five broad per- sonality domains termed neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The FFM posits that personality is structured hierarchically, with five overarching domains at the top and specific facets under each domain (McCrae & Costa, 1995). Research on the FFM has been useful in determining how individuals adapt to both acute trau- matic stress and ongoing stress in their lives (e.g., Löckenhoff, Terracciano, Patriciu, Eaton, & Costa, 2009; Moran & Shakespeare-Finch, 2003). Neuroticism refers to emotional maladjustment and negative affectivity (McCrae & John, 1992). Opposite to emotional sta- bility, neuroticism is often associated with adjustment difficul- ties following a stressful or traumatic event (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010). Extraversion refers to one’s sociability and positive affections (McCrae & John, 1992) and has been found to be significantly related to positive post-trauma out- comes (e.g., Shakespeare-Finch, Gow, & Smith, 2005). Zeidner & Hadar (2014) also found that positive affect, which is the core trait of extraversion, is a significant predictor of compas- sion satisfaction in mental health and medical professionals.

Openness to experience reflects one’s capacity to appreciate new experiences and change, both interpersonally and intrapersonally (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010). Open indi- viduals are more likely to explore their experiences for deeper meanings and are more likely to experience post-traumatic growth than people low on this dimension (Moran & Shakespeare-Finch, 2003). Agreeableness is associated with generosity and helpfulness (McCrae & John, 1992) and those high on this dimension tend to seek social support when faced with stressful events (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010). Lastly, Professional quality of life K Somorayet al. Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 2 K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 53 conscientiousness is related to organisation, self-discipline, and goal-motivated behaviours (McCrae & John, 1992). Conscien- tious people are more likely to handle stressful events more efficiently and effectively because they use active coping approaches during stressful times (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010).Neuroticism and extraversion usually explain the greatest variance of one’s well-being after a traumatic event (e.g., LaFauci-Schutt & Marotta, 2011), whereas openness to experi- ence, agreeableness, and conscientiousness account for small amounts of variance or fail to significantly predict people’s well- being. Many studies have found evidence of neuroticism’s sig- nificant role in negative mental health outcomes during stressful situations and traumatic events. For instance, LaFauci- Schutt and Marotta’s study demonstrated that neuroticism was a significant predictor of PTSD in emergency service personnel following exposure to trauma at work. Neuroticism has also been consistently found as a predictor of burnout in counsellors (Bakker, Van der Zee, Lewig, & Dollard, 2006; Lent & Schwartz, 2012). These studies suggest that individuals with high neuroti- cism tend to react with strong negative affect and use maladap- tive coping in stressful situations (Bakker et al., 2006; LaFauci-Schutt & Marotta, 2011; Lent & Schwartz, 2012). On the other hand, extraverts tend to reappraise problems positively when faced with stress (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010), which could protect them from experiencing burnout at work (Bakker et al., 2006). High levels of extraversion are also related to post-traumatic growth in emergency service workers (Shakespeare-Finch et al., 2005). In general popula- tion research, extraversion has also been found to promote resilience in individuals during stressful events (e.g., Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010).

Workplace Belongingness In addition to personality traits, it is also important to investigate the organisational context of mental health work. Killian (2008) found that long hours, work drain, and lack of work morale were associated with higher burnout and STS in mental health workers. There is emerging research that sense of belonging in the workplace may mitigate the impact of negative organisa- tional factors in the well-being of mental health workers (e.g., Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010; Huynh et al., 2014). People with a high sense of workplace belonging feel valued, needed, sup- ported, and important to their organisation (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010). The feeling of belonging and being connected at work has been associated with increased retention and job sat- isfaction in palliative care volunteers (Huynh et al., 2014), more happiness at work in firefighter volunteers (Huynh, Xanthopoulou, & Winefield, 2013) and lower levels of depres- sion and anxiety in disability services staff (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010). However, past studies have not examined the predictability of workplace belongingness in mental health workers’ professional quality of life.

The Current Research The aim of this study is to investigate the role of personality traits and workplace belongingness in predicting the profes- sional quality of life of mental health workers. Literature on the well-being of mental health workers has often concentrated on the negative psychological outcomes of providing services to the distressed, often ignoring the positive outcomes (Linley & Joseph, 2007). Past research has also focused on socio- demographic variables in predicting professional quality of life, and it is rare for studies to simultaneously investigate the impact of individual factors and workplace factors on mental health workers’ well-being. Therefore, the research presented in this paper is unique in a number of ways, including the simultane- ous examination of individual factors (personality) and an organisational factor (workplace belongingness) in predicting the positive as well as the negative outcomes of mental health work, measured by compassion satisfaction, STS, and burnout.

Research on the influence of dispositional characteristics in helping professions has shown that the FFM of personality explains considerable variance in burnout and work-related PTSD (e.g., LaFauci-Schutt & Marotta, 2011; Lent & Schwartz, 2012). These studies have demonstrated that high levels of neuroticism and low levels of extraversion are related to nega- tive outcomes of caregiving work (e.g., Bakker et al., 2006; LaFauci-Schutt & Marotta, 2011; Lent & Schwartz, 2012).

Recent studies on workplace belongingness have shown that a sense of connectedness at work mitigates the impact of stress.

Therefore, this study predicted that high levels of extraversion and workplace belongingness would positively predict compas- sion satisfaction. Additionally, it was predicted that high levels of neuroticism and low levels of extraversion and workplace belongingness would positively predict STS and burnout. Method Par ticipants Participants (N =156) were mental health workers currently employed in an Australian non-government organisation that provides counselling services to a range of clients, such as people who have experienced relationship issues, domestic violence, gambling problems, and those who have been incarcerated. The employees have a variety of work roles such as registered psy- chologists, counsellors, mediators, and social workers. The sample had an age range of 23 to 77 years (M =44.60, SD =12.42), and there were 28 (17.9%) males and 124 (79.5%) females. Four participants did not provide their sex. Although there were more females in the sample than males, this demo- graphic is representative of the organisation. The length of service ranged from less than 3 months to 33 years (M =5.06, SD =4.36). More participants reported personal history of trauma (21.2%) than work trauma (14.1%). Nearly half reported trauma in both personal and work contexts (46.2%).

Sixty-eight per cent of the participants perceived the severity of their trauma as high to severe.

Materials Data were collected through online and paper survey that included questions regarding the participants’ demographics and work roles, history of trauma (personal and work related), descriptions of the trauma experienced, and perceived severity of the trauma. A traumatic event was defined according to the K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 3 Professional quality of life K Somoray et al. Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 54 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision(American Psychiatric Association, 2000), as a time in a participant’s life when he or she was exposed to “actual or threatened death, or serious injury” and responded to the event with “intense fear, hopelessness, or horror” (p. 463). Three measures relating to personality, workplace belongingness, and professional quality of life were included in the analysis and are further outlined below.

Professional Quality of Life Scale The Professional Quality of Life Scale (Version 5; ProQOL) measures both negative and positive outcomes of working in helping professions (Stamm, 2010). The scale consists of 30 items measuring the three constructs of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and STS. Compassion satisfaction measures the pleas- ure that professionals may derive from their work. STS meas- ures the negative feelings that one may experience due to an indirect exposure to trauma, while burnout measures exhaus- tion, frustration, and anger related to feelings of hopelessness at work. Items from this scale include statements such as, “I like my work as a helper.” Each subscale contains 10 items, rated on a 5-point rating scale ranging from “never” (1) to “very often” (5).

Previous studies using ProQOL have demonstrated that the scale has good construct validity and reliability (Stamm, 2010). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients in the current study also demon- strated a reliable measure of compassion satisfaction (α=.90), STS (α=.81), and burnout (α=.77).

NEO Five-Factor Inventory The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was designed to measure five major domains of personality: neuroticism, extra- version, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscien- tiousness (Costa & McCrae, 1992). The NEO-FFI has 60 items (12 items per domain which relates to their underlying facets) and uses a 5-point scale for responses, ranging from “strongly disagree” (0) to “strongly agree” (4). The NEO-FFI contains descriptive statements, such as “I enjoy talking to people” to measure each personality domain. The NEO-FFI has good con- vergent validity and each domain has acceptable internal con- sistency scores of .74 to .89 (Costa & McCrae, 2008). In the current study, internal consistency for each subscale was: neu- roticism (α=.86), extraversion (α=.81), openness to experi- ence (α=.67), agreeableness (α=.72), and conscientiousness (α=.81).

Psychological Sense of Organisational Membership The Psychological Sense of Organisational Membership (PSOM) measures the sense of being liked, respected, valued, and needed in the workplace (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010). The questions asked are about the extent to which a person feels supported by colleagues and supervisors. The PSOM contains 18 items that were rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from “ not at all” (1) to “completely true” (5). The PSOM has statements such as “I feel like a real part of this organisation.” Cockshaw & Shochet (2010) reported an internal consistency score of .94 for the items, which was the same coefficient generated in this study.

The validity of the POSM has also been demonstrated (Cockshaw & Shochet, 2010). Procedure Ethics approval was obtained from a university Human Research Ethics Committee. All employees were then invited to participate in the study by sending a link to the online survey and consent form that was distributed via work emails. Hard copies were also mailed to the work sites with a reply paid envelope. There was a total response of 41.0% from the current employees.

Results Data were suitable for regression analyses as there were no extreme breaches of the assumptions of multicollinearity and normality of residuals. There were also no multivariate outliers that were unduly influential. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA).

Descriptive Statistics The descriptive statistics of the subscales are presented in Table 1. The participants’ average scores on compassion satisfac- tion, burnout, and STS were consistent with the norms reported by (Stamm, 2010). Participants reported significantly lower levels of extraversion t(155)=−4.75, p< .001, d= .38, and higher levels of conscientiousness t(155)=3.12, p= .002, d = .24 compared to the Australian norms published by McCrae et al., (2005). The participants’ scores for neuroticism, open- ness, and agreeableness were not significantly different from the published norms. The high mean in total PSOM scores demon- strated that the participants felt high levels of belongingness within their organisation. However, there was also a moderate variability within the scores, indicating that some participants also reported lower levels of workplace belongingness. To further examine the prevalence of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and STS in the current sample, participants’ scores were placed in categories of low, average, and high for each subscale, as recommended by the Pro-QOL V manual (Table 2; Stamm, 2010). The cut-off scores were set at the 25th and 75th percentiles from the norms, which offer further information on Table 1 Descriptive Statistics and Reliabilities of NEO-FFI and ProQOL-V Subscales and the PSOM Scale Scale M (SD) 95% CI Skew Range NEO-Neuroticism 18.21 (7.63) [17.00, 19.41] 0.69 4–42 NEO-Extraversion 29.53 (6.08) [28.57, 30.49] −0.44 12–44 NEO-Openness 31.47 (5.05) [30.68, 32.27] −0.01 17–44 NEO-Agreeableness 35.83 (4.77) [35.08, 36.59] −0.59 21–47 NEO-Conscientiousness 35.32 (5.17) [34.50, 36.14] −0.22 19–47 PSOM 69.31 (13.42) [67.20, 71.42] −0.83 27–90 ProQOL-CS 38.74 (5.84) [37.81, 39.66] −0.65 19–50 ProQOL-BO 21.84 (4.97) [21.05, 22.63] 0.49 12–38 ProQOL-STS 20.90 (5.07) [20.10, 21.71] 0.99 11–41 Note. BO, burnout; CI, confidence interval; CS, compassion satisfaction; NEO, NEO Five-Factor Inventory; PSOM, Psychological Sense of Organisa- tional Membership; ProQOL, Professional Quality of Life scale; STS, Second- ary Traumatic Stress. N= 156.

Professional quality of life K Somorayet al. Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 4 K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 55 the prevalence of workers who may be at risk of burnout and STS, and those who are thriving in their work. Most participants reported average to high levels of compassion satisfaction. More than half of the participants also reported low levels of burnout and STS, while none of the participants showed high levels of burnout or STS.There was also a strong positive correlation (r =.56; p< .001) between burnout and STS, while compassion satisfaction had a strong negative correlation with burnout (r =−.63, p< .001) and a weak negative correlation with STS (r =−.16, p= .040).

These findings may indicate that the positive and negative dimensions of professional quality of life are distinct constructs.

Preliminary Analyses Before the main analyses for the hypotheses were performed, examinations of the potential influence of demographic profile, work roles, and trauma variables were conducted, to determine their addition to the main analyses as controlled variables. Age, sex, personal, and work history of trauma were found to sig- nificantly influence the outcome variables and therefore added as controlled variables in the main analyses. As shown in Table 3, compassion satisfaction was significantly correlated with each personality trait. Specifically, compassion satisfaction had low to moderate positive correlations with extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and a moderate negative correlation with neuroticism. All per- sonality variables were significantly correlated with burnout and STS, except for openness to experience. Both burnout and STS had strong positive correlations with neuroticism, but mod- erate negative correlations with extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Furthermore, compassion satisfaction had a strong positive correlation with workplace belongingness, while burnout and STS had strong and weak negative correla- tions, respectively, with workplace belongingness. Predicting Professional Quality of Life Three hierarchal multiple regressions models, with three steps each, were conducted to examine the role of personality traits and workplace belongingness in predicting compassion satisfac- tion, burnout, and STS. For each regression model, sex, age, and histories of trauma (personal and work) were added at step 1 as controlled variables. Considered as a dispositional variable, the FFM of personality was added at step 2. As previous research has demonstrated that workplace variables account for more variance in mental health outcomes than individual difference variables (e.g., Killian, 2008), workplace belongingness scores were entered at step 3 of the regression.

Predicting compassion satisfaction As presented in Table 4, the final regression model accounted for a large variance in compassion satisfaction, R 2=0.46, F(10, 135) =11.42, p< .001. All steps produced significant changes in the variance explained. At step 1, the controlled variables significantly explained 19.0% of the variance in compassion Table 2 Prevalence of Low, Average, and High Levels of Compassion Sat- isfaction, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress in the Current Sample of Mental Health Workers Variable Low (0–22) n(%) Average (23–41) n(%) High (42–50) n(%) Compassion satisfaction 3 (2%) 103 (66%) 50 (32%) Burnout 90 (58%) 66 (42%) 0 (0%) Secondary traumatic stress 106 (68%) 50 (32%) 0 (0%) Note. N = 156.

Table 3 Bivariate Correlation Matrix of Controlled Variables, NEO-FFI Subscales, PSOM Scale, Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress Compassion satisfaction Burnout Secondary traumaticstress 1. Sex −0.06 0.12 0.15 2. Age 0.40**−0.39** 0.02 3. Personal trauma 0.27**−0.07 0.24** 4. Work trauma 0.10 0.08 0.27** 5. Neuroticism −0.32** 0.58** 0.50** 6. Extraversion 0.33**−0.40** −0.27** 7. Openness 0.17*−0.12 −0.05 8. Agreeableness 0.31**−0.37** −0.30** 9. Conscientiousness 0.29**−0.28** −0.21* 10. Workplace belongingness 0.50** −0.56**−0.19* Note. N = 156. NEO-FFI, NEO Five-Factor Inventory; PSOM, Psychological Sense of Organisational Membership. *p<.05. **p<.01 (two tailed). Table 4 Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Compassion Satisfaction Step 1:

Controlled variables Step 2:

Personality Step 3:

Workplace belongingness ββ β Step 1 Sex −0.02−0.04 −0.04 Age 0.35*** 0.31*** 0.26** Personal trauma 0.17* 0.16* 0.13 Work trauma 0.00 0.09 0.06 Step 2 Neuroticism −0.02 0.06 Extraversion 0.18* 0.11 Openness −0.04 0.01 Agreeableness 0.20** 0.13 Conscientiousness 0.21** 0.24** Step 3 Workplace belongingness 0.35*** Model Statistics R 2 0.19*** 0.36*** 0.46*** Adjusted R 2 0.17*** 0.32*** 0.42*** ΔR 2 — 0.17*** 0.09*** Note. N = 146. *p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.

K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 5 Professional quality of life K Somoray et al. Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 56 satisfaction scores,F(4, 141)=8.19, p< .001. However, age and personal history of trauma were the only significant predictors.

At step 2, personality traits explained an additional 17.3% of the variance, F change (5, 136)=7.39, p< 0.001. Extraversion, agreea- bleness, and conscientiousness were the only personality traits that significantly predicted compassion satisfaction and the relationships were positive. The addition of workplace belongingness at step 3 significantly added 9.7% to the variance in compassion satisfaction scores, F change (10, 135)=24.04, p < .001, which was the largest unique variance in the final model. Age and conscientiousness were the only significant variables that remained from the previous steps. Predicting burnout Overall, the final regression model for predicting burnout was significant and accounted for a large amount of variance in burnout scores, R 2=0.55, F(10, 135) =16.71, p< .001. As shown in Table 5, variables entered at step 1 explained 18.0 %of the variance and the model was significant, F(4, 141)=7.64, p < .001. Age was the only significantly predictor of burnout, and the relationship was negative. The addition of personality at step 2 significantly increased the model’s variance by 28.0%, F change (5, 136), =14.10, p< .001. In the second step, neuroti- cism, extraversion, and agreeableness significantly predicted burnout. Neuroticism had a positive relationship with burnout, while extraversion and agreeableness had a negative relation- ship with burnout. In the final step, workplace belongingness significantly added 9.4% variance to the model, F change (1, 135) =28.52, p< .001 and had a negative relationship with burnout. Workplace belongingness explained the largest unique variance in the final model. Age, neuroticism, and agreeableness were the only significant predictors that remained from the previous steps. Predicting secondary traumatic stress The final regression model significantly explained 36.0% of the variance in STS, F(10, 135)=7.66, p< .001. Only steps 1 and 2 produced significant changes in the variance explained as seen in Table 6. The controlled variables significantly explained 13.0% of the variance in STS, F(4, 141)=5.19, p< .001. Both personal and history of trauma were observed as significant predictors. The addition of personality traits at step 2 further explained 23.3% of variance, F change (5, 136)=9.86, p< .001, with neuroticism and agreeableness significantly predicting STS.

Neuroticism had a positive relationship with STS, while agreea- bleness had a negative relationship with STS. At this step, neu- roticism explained the greatest unique variance of the model.

The addition of workplace belongingness only added a non- significant 0.2% in the model’s variance. Neuroticism and per- sonal trauma were the only significant predictors that remained from the previous steps. Discussion The aim of this study was to investigate the role of personality traits and workplace belongingness in predicting the profes- sional quality of life of mental health workers. It was hypoth- esised that high levels of extraversion and workplace belongingness would positively predict compassion satisfaction while high levels of neuroticism and low levels of extraversion and workplace belongingness would positively predict burnout and STS. The results yielded mixed support for the hypotheses.

Overall, the FFM of personality traits were useful in predicting both the negative and positive outcomes of mental health work Table 5 Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Burnout Step 1:

Controlled variables Step 2:

Personality Step 3:

Workplace belongingness ββ β Step 1 Sex 0.07 0.04 0.04 Age −0.41**−0.28*** −0.23** Personal trauma 0.00−0.01 0.02 Work trauma 0.15 0.03 0.05 Step 2 Neuroticism 0.34*** 0.27** Extraversion −0.16*−0.09 Openness 0.08 0.03 Agreeableness −0.20**−0.13* Conscientiousness −0.06−0.10 Step 3 Workplace belongingness −0.35*** Model Statistics R 2 0.18*** 0.46*** 0.55*** Adjusted R 2 0.16*** 0.42*** 0.52*** ΔR 2 — 0.28*** 0.09*** Note. N = 146. *p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001. Table 6 Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Secondary Traumatic Stress Step 1:

Controlled variables Step 2:

Personality Step 3:

Workplace belongingness ββ β Step 1 Sex 0.13 0.07 0.07 Age −0.07 0.10 0.10 Personal trauma 0.20* 0.18* 0.18* Work trauma 0.24** 0.14 0.14 Step 2 Neuroticism 0.43*** 0.42*** Extraversion −0.04−0.03 Openness −0.02−0.03 Agreeableness −0.15*−0.14 Conscientiousness 0.02 0.02 Step 3 Workplace belongingness −0.05 Model Statistics R 2 0.13** 0.36*** 0.36*** Adjusted R 2 0.10** 0.32*** 0.32*** ΔR 2 — 0.23*** 0.00 Note. N = 146. *p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.

Professional quality of life K Somorayet al. Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 6 K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 57 and explained moderate to large amounts of variance in the models. Workplace belongingness significantly predicted com- passion satisfaction and burnout, but it was not a significant predictor of STS. Findings are specifically addressed below and discussed in relation to previous research.

Influence of Sex, Age, and History of Trauma Although demographics and history of trauma were not the focus of the current study, they were important variables to control for. The results indicated that age positively predicted compassion satisfaction while negatively predicting burnout, even after the addition of personality and workplace belongingness to the regression models. Similar to past studies (e.g., Craig & Sprang, 2010), the current finding suggests that as mental health providers get older they experience more com- passion satisfaction and have a lower risk of developing burnout. It is possible that as people age they gain maturity and learn strategies to tackle the deleterious effects of burnout (Craig & Sprang, 2010). Personal history of trauma was also found to be a significant predictor of STS in the final model. While personal trauma increased one’s susceptibility to STS, current findings also suggest that having a history of trauma can lead to greater compassion satisfaction in mental health workers.

Collins and Long (2003) asserted that therapists with a personal history of trauma feel less naïve when working with clients, as the therapists’ own trauma history helps provide a better insight into their clients’ experiences.

Role of Personality on Professional Quality of Life It was hypothesised that extraversion scores would significantly predict high levels of compassion satisfaction and low levels of STS and burnout, while neuroticism would significantly predict burnout and STS. These hypotheses were only partially sup- ported. Overall, the results demonstrated that high levels of extraversion predicted higher compassion satisfaction and lower burnout in the second step of the respective models. Previous research has asserted that extraversion is related to positive affect, which predisposes people to reappraise events in their lives as more favourable (McCrae & Costa, 1995), supporting the relationship between extraversion and compassion satisfac- tion in the current study. Furthermore, extraverts usually expe- rience positive emotions in general and tend to seek social support when faced with stress, which may explain why extro- version was related to lower levels of burnout in this study (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010).Unexpectedly, agreeableness was a consistent personality dimension that predicted each of the outcome variables before the addition of workplace belongingness in the models. High levels of agreeableness were associated with high compassion satisfaction, but also low levels of burnout and STS. Similar to extraverts, agreeable individuals tend to seek social support as a coping mechanism (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010), which could help them manage stressful events more effectively and experience more satisfaction at work (Bakker et al., 2006).

This interpersonal support could protect mental health workers with high levels of extraversion and agreeableness from experiencing emotional exhaustion at work (Bakker et al., 2006), and facilitate feelings of satisfaction from their helping role.

Additionally, conscientiousness significantly predicted com- passion satisfaction, even with the addition of workplace belongingness in the model. Although this is the first known study that has examined the relationship between the FFM and compassion satisfaction, past research had demonstrated that conscientious people are more likely to experience personal achievement at work and use problem-focused coping strategies and goal-motivated behaviours in stressful situations (Bakker et al., 2006; Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010). It is possible that highly conscientious workers experience higher compassion sat- isfaction because they utilise effective coping strategies when faced with psychological distress at work. As hypothesised, neuroticism was a significant predictor of burnout and STS even with the addition of workplace belongingness in the models. Past studies have shown that indi- viduals in helping professions with high levels of neuroticism are more likely to react with negative affectivity towards stress- ful events and engage in maladaptive coping strategies, increas- ing their risk of burnout (Bakker et al., 2006) and PTSD (LaFauci-Schutt & Marotta, 2011). It is possible that neuroti- cism, STS, and burnout share similar concepts of negative affect and feelings of anger, guilt, fear, and anxiety (Zeidner et al., 2013), explaining the strong correlations found between these constructs. Role of Workplace Belongingness on Professional Quality of Life In addition to personality traits, it was hypothesised that work- place belongingness would positively predict compassion satis- faction and negatively predict burnout and STS. This hypothesis was only partially supported. Workplace belongingness was posi- tively related to compassion satisfaction and negatively related to burnout, which is consistent with past research (e.g., Huynh et al., 2013). Workplace belongingness was also the strongest predictor of compassion satisfaction and low levels of burnout in the current study. The results suggest that mental health workers who feel supported and valued by their peers and organisation are more likely to find pleasure in providing services to their clients and are less likely to experience burnout in their role as a helper. Workplace belongingness however, was not a significant predictor of STS. This finding is similar to Armstrong, Shakespeare-Finch, & Shochet (2014) research that demon- strated a lack of significance of workplace belongingness in predicting PTSD symptoms among firefighters. Conceptually, workplace belongingness measures one’s sense of connection with the organisation, supervisors, and other workers (Huynh et al., 2014). Workplace belongingness is related more to burnout and compassion satisfaction because these three con- structs inherently measure one’s experiences and feelings at work. In contrast, the transfer of trauma that occurs between the client and the practitioner in secondary traumatisation is very personal (Figley, 1995). Although the source of trauma may be work related, it is possible that the development of STS is related to the individual’s intrapersonal factors and personal resources beyond the work environment. Therefore, it is likely K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 7 Professional quality of life K Somoray et al. Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 58 that when STS occurs, work-related resources, such as work- place belongingness, are not as important as other more intrapersonal processes such as coping strategies and schematic adaptation.

Strengths and Practical Implications By looking at both the negative and positive outcomes of working as a mental health worker, this study has provided a more holistic understanding of mental health outcomes that individuals may experience when working with distressed and traumatised clients. The current study demonstrated that mental health workers also experience satisfaction in their jobs even though they are exposed to high levels of work-related stress, trauma, and the hassles of daily work.Furthermore, by investigating the dispositional characteris- tics that influence one’s professional quality of life, in addition to workplace belongingness, this research has identified certain personality traits that are associated with STS, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. For instance, neuroticism was a significant predictor of burnout and STS in this study. Indi- viduals with high neuroticism are more likely to use self- blaming behaviour and experience feelings such as anger and resentment (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010), which may place them at risk of developing STS and burnout. Organisations can use this information to encourage their staff to become more self-aware of how their personality traits impact their reactions to negative situations (Killian, 2008). Tangible strategies, such as the use of personality tests, keeping a diary, and clinical supervision, may be valuable in increasing self-awareness in mental health workers. As personality traits influence one’s coping mechanisms (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010), organisations could develop training programmes for their employees providing guidance on how to process workplace stressors using adaptive coping mechanisms. While it is difficult to alter one’s personality, organisations could use this information to promote compassion satisfaction and mitigate the risk of burnout and STS at work by encouraging individuals to use problem-based coping skills and seek social support (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010; Moran & Shakespeare-Finch, 2003) when faced with high emotional demands and workplace stress. For instance, regardless of one’s personality, individuals can benefit from learning coping strat- egies that relate to emotional regulation and problem solving (Carver & Connor-Smith, 2010). Additionally, this study further highlighted the benefits of increasing employees’ sense of belonging in the workplace. By providing a supportive work environment through team build- ing activities and promotion of workplace practices that foster open communication and ensuring that employees feel included and supported (Huynh et al., 2013), mental health workers could feel more valued by their organisations. Activities such as annual dinners, recognition of work, supervisory, and peer support could help increase one’s sense of belongingness in a workplace (Huynh et al., 2013). This in turn may facilitate sat- isfaction in their role as a helper and buffer the potential for burnout (Stamm, 2010). However, this suggestion does not imply that all employees will find such workplace practices useful in increasing their level of workplace belongingness. Pro- grammes developed to support staff would likely be most effec- tive if they contained multiple activities and sources of support.

Another strength of this study is the recognition that the compassion satisfaction, burnout, and STS mental health workers may experience due to the nature of their work are impacted by different factors. Although the interaction between dispositional characteristics and workplace factors was not spe- cifically examined, the findings of the current study indicated that workplace belongingness has more relative strength in pre- venting burnout and facilitating compassion satisfaction in mental health workers than necessarily buffering one from sec- ondary traumatisation. This finding could mean that mental health workers may benefit from changes in workplace practices in facilitating compassion satisfaction and reducing one’s risk of burnout (Stamm, 2010). However, if organisations want to provide strategies to their employees to buffer their risk of STS, interventions that are more intrapersonal, such as the provision of training in coping strategies and clinical supervision to deal with work trauma (Killian, 2008; Linley & Joseph, 2007), may be more beneficial than strategies that only operate at an organisational level. Limitations and Future Directions There are limitations in this study that should be noted. First, it is not possible to determine the causal relationships between the variables due to the cross-sectional design of the study. The current study also had very low rates of burnout and STS risks compared to past research (Conrad & Kellar-Guenther, 2006; Craig & Sprang, 2010). While the low rates of STS and burnout found in this study could be attributed to the reported high levels of compassion satisfaction and workplace belongingness, it is also possible that those who experienced high levels of burnout and STS chose not to participate in the study or had already left the organisation. Replication of the research is nec- essary to ensure the robustness of the findings. Future research could repeat this study in mental health workers from other organisations or other related professions to ascertain if the predictability of personality traits and workplace belongingness are comparable across various organisations and different fields.

Conclusion In summary, this is the first known research that has examined the role of personality traits and workplace belongingness in predicting compassion satisfaction, burnout, and STS in mental health workers. Although personality traits are relatively stable and can be difficult to alter (McCrae & Costa, 1995), the results of the current study suggest that these dispositional character- istics impact on mental health workers’ professional quality of life. Encouraging mental health staff to be more aware of their personal style and their reactions to work-related stress and traumatic material through self-reflections (Killian, 2008) may be an essential component in future staff support interventions in this demanding profession. This study also highlighted the benefits of workplace belongingness, thus organisations should strive to create workplace practices that promote respect, acceptance, and support within its workers through mentoring programmes, promotions, and open communication. Professional quality of life K Somorayet al. Australian Psychologist (2015) © 2015 The Australian Psychological Society 8 K Somoray et al. Professional quality of life Australian Psychologist 52 (2017) 52–60 © 2016 The Australian Psychological Society 59 References American Psychiatric Association. (2000).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC:

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