The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between compassion fatigue and empathy in professional counselors. The sample of 371 participants was surveyed using the Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2005), the Professional Quality of Life Scale (Stamm, 1995) and the Impact of Events Scale (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979). A demographics questionnaire was utilized to gather data on race, gender, age, type of licensure, number of years licensed, clients information, work settings, and personal and professional experience with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, MANOVA procedures, and supplemental analyses. The results of the regression analysis found that compassion fatigue accounts for 4.8% of the variance in empathy scores as measured by their designated surveys. The results of the MANOVA found that the research participants' compassion fatigue and empathy scores were not different based on years of experience as a professional counselor.
The supplemental analyses included further regression and MANOVA analyses. The supplemental regression analysis found that it is possible to construct a prediction model using a regression analysis that explains 6.6% of the variance in empathy scores. The supplemental MANOVA constructed percentile rankings based on years of experience in order to further investigate the role of experience in the variance of compassion fatigue and empathy scores. The results found the counselors' compassion fatigue and empathy scores were not significantly different based on experience as grouped by the percentile rankings. Discussions of the research instruments, data analysis procedures, recommendations, study implications, and directions for future research are presented.