Incorporating compassion into compassion fatigue: The development of a new scale
Linnéa Eng, Jennie Nordström, Elinor Schad
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Although theory supports compassion fatigue as a separate condition, compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress (STS) are terms often used interchangeably. We aim to create a compassion fatigue scale while comparing it to burnout and STS. METHOD: Survey data were collected from 651 psychologists working in Sweden using a Compassion Fatigue Inventory (CFI), the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and the STS Scale. RESULTS: An exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate the CFI resulting in high internal consistency generating three subfactors: Reduced Compassion, Social Life, and Workplace. Even though Compassion fatigue had a high correlation with both burnout and STS, the results suggest a narrower conceptualization of compassion fatigue. The only background variable related to compassion fatigue was years of work experience. CONCLUSION: This new CFI can be useful in examining reduced compassion in health care professionals.