Russian adaptation of the ProQOL (Professional Quality of Life) scale by B. Stamm

Abstract

This paper presents a Russian adaptation of the ProQOL (Professional Quality of Life) scale by Stamm. This questionnaire assesses the positive and negative aspects of professional quality of life in people who work as helpers (compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue). The Russian version of ProQOL was tested on the sample of counseling psychologists (N = 304, 84 % female) aged from 22 to 66 years (M = 39, SD = 8) with counselling experience from 1 to 29 years (M = 6.9, SD = 6.5). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Russian version of ProQOL has a four-factor structure: job satisfaction, occupational satisfaction, secondary trauma, and burnout. Based on the correlations between the primary scales, it is proposed to calculate also the scores on the second-order scales, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Internal consistency of the primary scales ranges from 0.71 to 0.80, and internal consistency of the second-order scales is equal to 0.85 and 0.80 respectively. Occupational satisfaction correlates negatively with burnout (r = –0.51, p < 0.001) and secondary trauma (r = –0.31, p < 0.001). Job satisfaction correlates negatively with burnout (r = –0.26, p < 0.01) but does not correlate with secondary trauma (r = –0.04). The association between professional effectiveness and professional quality of life in novice counselors (N = 54) was also analyzed. It was found that counsellors’ self-efficacy while working with a client’s request correlates positively with their compassion satisfaction (r = 0.37, p < 0.01) and negatively with their burnout (r = –0.46, p < 0.001).