Professional Quality of Life and Affective Distress Among Prelicensed Counselors

Abstract

We investigated the relationships between individual and occupational demographic variables, professional quality of life (i.e., compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress), and affective distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) in a sample of 524 prelicensed counselors. Using structural equation analysis, we found statistically significant relationships between the professional quality of life and affective distress latent variables. Implications for supporting the needs of prelicensed counselors in supervision are discussed. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are offered.