Life satisfaction, psychological distress, compassion satisfaction and resilience: when the pleasure of helping others protects veterinary staff from emotional suffering.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Individuals working in veterinary field suffer significantly from mental health problems, and research has extensively focused on psychological and work-related predictors of psychological distress. This study intended to approach psychological distress through a positive lens by investigating the predictive role of life satisfaction on psychological distress in veterinary staff, and the mediating effect of compassion satisfaction, resilience and perceived social support. METHODOLOGY: A total of 868 veterinary staff (i.e. veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary assistants and veterinary administrative staff) completed a web-survey assessing life satisfaction, psychological distress, compassion satisfaction, resilience, and social support. RESULTS: Life satisfaction negatively predicts psychological distress, and compassion satisfaction and resilience showed a mediation effect on the relationship between life satisfaction and psychological distress, with compassion satisfaction explaining 59% and resilience 6.4% of the effect of life satisfaction on psychological distress. CONCLUSION: Current data support the role of life satisfaction as a protective dimension on psychological distress within a broader sample population of veterinary staff in Portugal, highlighting the role of compassion satisfaction and resilience in contributing in minimising distress among veterinary staff.