Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Substance Use Treatment Professionals: Role of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

Objective: Present study aims to investigate the role of trait emotional intelligence in CS, BO, and STS in counselors working in the field of substance use treatment facilities.

Method: A sample of 100 substance use treatment counselors was recruited from different in and outpatient treatment centers and institutes. The age ranges of entire sample was from 20 to 70 years (M = 34.00; SD = 10.43). They were assessed through Professional Quality of Life-5 (ProQOL-5), and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF to evaluate, CS, BO, and STS, and trait emotional intelligence, respectively. All measures were used in the Urdu language.

Results: Overall regression was statistically significant.  It was found that trait emotional intelligence significantly predicted compassion satisfaction F(2, 98) = 62.558, p < .0001, R2 = .339. Further, results revealed that trait emotional intelligence significantly negatively predict F(2, 98) = 18.107, p < .0001, R2 = .156, secondary traumatic stress. However, It was found that trait emotional intelligence did not significantly predict burnout F(2, 98) = .295, p > .01, R2 = .003 in substance use treatment counselors. Conclusion: Substance use treatment counselors are facing significant problems related to secondary trauma as a result of their engagement with patients with SUD, and there need to design and implement evidence-based trauma-focused interventions to overcome their problems so that they could deliver the best services to patients with SUD, this could further help them improve their wellbeing and quality of life.

Keywords: Trait emotional intelligence, compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, substance use, counselors