May Hannah, Millar Josie, Griffith Emma, Gillmore Chris, Kristoffersen Mhairi, Robinson Ross, West Michael
Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 5;19(12):e0306757. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0306757. eCollection 2024.
Consistently engaging with client distress can negatively impact mental health workers (MHWs). This has been described by the concept of empathy-based stress (EBS) (which encompasses burnout; secondary traumatic stress; compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma). Previous reviews of interventions to reduce EBS have not addressed MHWs as a distinct group, despite evidence suggesting they are particularly vulnerable to it. In the context of rising demand for mental health services, it is especially important to understand how to mitigate the impact of EBS on MHWS. This scoping review therefore aimed to identify and describe available interventions to reduce or prevent EBS in MHWs. A systematic scoping review of the literature between 1970 and 2022 was undertaken using five electronic databases. A total of 51 studies were included, which varied significantly with regards to: interventions used; study methodology and theoretical underpinnings. Studies were grouped according to the level at which they aimed to intervene, namely: individual; team or organisational. The review concluded that most studies intervened at the level of the individual, despite the proposed causes of EBS being predominantly organisational. Furthermore, theoretical links to the origins of EBS were largely unclear. This suggests a lack of empirical evidence from which organisations employing MHWs can draw, to meaningfully prevent or reduce EBS in their staff. A dedicated research agenda is outlined to address this, and, other pertinent issues in the field and signifies a call for more theoretically grounded research.
持续应对服务对象的痛苦可能会对心理健康工作者（MHW）产生负面影响。这一现象已由基于同理心的压力（EBS）概念进行描述（其中包括职业倦怠、继发性创伤压力、同情疲劳和替代性创伤）。尽管有证据表明心理健康工作者特别容易受到基于同理心的压力的影响，但以往关于减少基于同理心的压力的干预措施的综述并未将心理健康工作者作为一个独特的群体来探讨。在心理健康服务需求不断增加的背景下，了解如何减轻基于同理心的压力对心理健康工作者的影响尤为重要。因此，本范围综述旨在识别和描述可用于减少或预防心理健康工作者基于同理心的压力的现有干预措施。我们使用五个电子数据库对1970年至2022年间的文献进行了系统的范围综述。总共纳入了51项研究，这些研究在以下方面存在显著差异：所使用的干预措施；研究方法和理论基础。研究根据其旨在干预的层面进行分组，即：个体层面；团队或组织层面。综述得出结论，尽管基于同理心的压力的成因主要是组织层面的，但大多数研究是在个体层面进行干预。此外，与基于同理心的压力起源的理论联系在很大程度上并不明确。这表明缺乏实证证据可供雇佣心理健康工作者的组织借鉴，以切实预防或减少员工的基于同理心的压力。为此概述了一项专门的研究议程，以解决该领域的这一问题及其他相关问题，并呼吁开展更多有理论依据的研究。
