Impact of occupational death trauma on burnout among mental health professionals: the mediating role of secondary traumatic stress

TL;DR

This study explores how experiencing client deaths affects burnout in mental health professionals, with secondary trauma playing a key role.

Contribution

The study identifies secondary traumatic stress as a partial mediator linking occupational death trauma to burnout in mental health professionals.

Findings

Occupational death trauma is strongly linked to higher burnout levels in mental health professionals.

Secondary traumatic stress partially mediates the relationship between occupational death trauma and burnout.

The findings suggest a need for psychological interventions to address burnout in mental health workers.

Abstract

In response to growing evidence regarding the psychological burden of client deaths on mental health professionals (MHPs), this study investigates how occupational death trauma influences burnout, particularly through the mediating role of secondary traumatic stress (STS).

A structured online survey was administered to 224 MHPs working at mental health welfare centers across South Korea in June 2024. Multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis were performed using bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples in Stata/MP 18.0.

Greater exposure to occupational death trauma was significantly associated with higher levels of burnout among MHPs (β = .515, p <.001). Occupational death trauma exerted a significant direct effect on burnout, and STS was found to partially mediate this relationship (β = .277, p <.001). Specifically, increased exposure to occupational death trauma elevated STS, which in turn intensified burnout among MHPs. These findings underscore both direct and indirect pathways through which occupational death trauma contributes to burnout, emphasizing the need for structured psychological interventions within the mental health workforce.

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