The relationship among perceived social support, compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress and burnout among clergy in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

Clergy are individuals ordained for religious duties in the Christian church. They are generally the first point of call for church members who encounter both suffering and joy. Because they experience the gamut of happenings in people’s lives, they face both the pain and joys of stories they hear. This study was undertaken to understand the relationship among perceived social support, compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress among clergy in the central region of Ghana. Grounded on the realism ontological position and objectivist epistemological underpinning, this study used the quantitative research approach and correlational design to understand the relationship among the variables. The Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (shortened version), the Professional Quality of Life Scale, and a demographic questionnaire were the three instruments used in gaining information from the participating clergy (n = 103; mean age = 44.64 years, SD = 8.45). Most participants (n = 88) were married, classified as Pentecostals (n = 69), and had some level of post-secondary education (n = 94). Majority of the clergy reported high perceived social support (85.4%), compassion satisfaction (90.3%), low burnout (68.9%) and a little over half with high secondary traumatic stress (50.5%). Compassion satisfaction had a strong negative relationship with burnout, a little positive relationship with secondary traumatic stress and some positive relationship with perceived social support. While the sample size was small, the study indicated that counselling psychologists could provide strategies that enhance increased social support among clergy as it could reduce burnout.