Association between mental health and professional quality of life among sexual assault victim advocates: a cross-sectional study

Background Sexual assault victim advocates are exposed to the traumatic events of victims, which can lead to occupational stress. Occupational stress specific to advocates who support victims can cause compassion fatigue and burnout, which can worsen their mental health. Furthermore, such exposure could also lead to compassion satisfaction, which, in turn, may buffer compassion fatigue and burnout. To improve the mental health among advocates for victims of sexual assault in Japan, this study was designed to evaluate a hypothesized model explaining the impact of occupational stress on their mental health. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire via mail. The sample comprised 560 advocates from one-stop support centers for victims of sexual assault. Questionnaires comprising the components of the hypothesized model, namely, compassion fatigue, burnout, compassion satisfaction, traumatic stress symptoms, and psychological distress were mailed. After using descriptive statistics, path analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses and the fitness of the model. Results Data from 250 participants were analyzed. The prevalence rates of compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction were 30%, 65%, and 4%, respectively. The hypothesized model had a good fit. Compassion fatigue had a significant positive effect on traumatic stress symptoms, psychological distress, and burnout. In addition, burnout had a significant positive effect on psychological distress. However, its association with traumatic stress symptoms was not significant. Compassion satisfaction had a significant negative effect on compassion fatigue and burnout. Conclusions Findings suggested that increased compassion satisfaction in advocates could buffer compassion fatigue and burnout, indirectly preventing the worsening of mental health of sexual assault victim advocates.