Vicarious traumatization and burnout among therapists working with sex offenders.

Ninety-one Canadian therapists (49 women and 42 men, mean age 41 years) working primarily with sex offenders were surveyed to determine the presence of vicarious trauma, identify mitigating variables if present and assess its relationship to burnout. Participants completed a 24-item demographic questionnaire, the Traumatic Stress Institute Belief Scale - Revision L, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Contrary to expectations, participants did not exhibit significantly higher degrees of vicarious traumatization than a criterion reference group of mental health professionals. Participants who reported having a venue to address the personal impact of their work were found to be more likely to score lower on the measure of vicarious trauma than those who did not. Other variables theorized to be related to vicarious trauma were not found to be related to scores on the measure assessing vicarious trauma. Twenty four percent of the sample was found to have a moderate to severe stress r...