Utilising an online survey, this study aimed to investigate the concurrent effects of pre-pandemic and COVID-19 stress on resilience in Mental Health Psychology Practitioners (MHPPs) (n = 325), focussing on the mediation effects of specific individual factors. Optimism, burnout and secondary traumatic stress, but not coping strategies, self-efficacy, compassion satisfaction, or self-compassion, mediated both the relationship between pre-pandemic stress and resilience and COVID-19 stress and resilience. Increased job demands caused by the pandemic, the nature and duration of COVID-19 stress may explain this finding. Training and supervision practices can help MHPPs deal with job demands under circumstances of general and extreme stress.
Individual factors in the relationship between stress and resilience in mental health psychology practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic