Professional Quality of Life among Migrant and Non-Migrant Mental Health Staff in Germany: A Gender-Sensitive Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Like other European countries, Germany increasingly relies on a migrant workforce to address shortages in the mental healthcare sector. Mental health professionals face high emotional demands, prolonged exposure to chronic mental illnesses, trauma, and acute crises. Simultaneously, carework offers an emotional reward. This dual nature of carework is assessed by the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL, Stamm 2010), including compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Therefore, migrant professionals face a double burden: the emotional strain of caregiving, and the migration-related stress, such as discrimination, structural barriers and limited social support, which impacts ProQOL outcomes negatively. Methods A bilingual cross-sectional survey of 312 mental health professionals was conducted in Germany using the ProQOL scale in 2022. Multiple linear regressions and ANCOVAs with a priori contrasts were conducted, controlling for covariates. Results Migrant professionals report significantly lower compassion satisfaction while experiencing higher burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Considering gender, women exhibit significantly higher compassion satisfaction than men, regardless of migration. Gender effects were strongest among migrant women, indicating an intersectional disadvantage of gender-specific challenges and migration-related stress factors. Conclusion Findings highlight the need for structural and psychosocial interventions, including recognition of qualifications, an inclusive workplace culture and access to social support networks. Addressing these issues is critical not only for careworkers’ wellbeing, but also for ensuring the sustainability of Europe’s mental healthcare workforce.