At a glance
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An International Study on the Professional Quality of Life of Youth Care Professionals
In Brief
An observational study for Secondary Traumatic Stress and 5 related conditions. Completed, enrolled 4,214 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
The goal of this observational study is to understand how work-related stress and personal characteristics affect the wellbeing of adults who work with children and young people in youth care services in Flanders, Wallonia, France and The Netherlands. The study focuses on three aspects of professional wellbeing: secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. These feelings can develop when people regularly support children and families who have experienced trauma. The study also looks at whether these experiences influence participants' intention to leave their job. The main questions this study aims to answer are: 1. What are the levels of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction among youth care (para)professionals? 2. Which personal, work-related, and client-related factors raise or lower the risk of experiencing these outcomes? 3. How do these wellbeing outcomes relate to participants' intention to leave their job? 4. Do these outcomes differ between regions (Flanders, Wallonia, France, The Netherlands) and between types of youth care roles (professional vs. paraprofessional)? Participants will complete an anonymous online survey that takes about 15 to 20 minutes. The survey asks about everyday work experiences, personal wellbeing, social support, workload, client characteristics, and professional quality of life. All answers are anonymous, and no identifying information (such as names or IP addresses) is collected. There is no intervention and no comparison group; this study only collects information to better understand the wellbeing of youth care (para)professionals. The goal is to identify challenges and strengths in the sector and to support future prevention and intervention efforts that promote healthy, sustainable working conditions. The study includes adults who work directly with children or adolescents in youth care settings, such as residential care workers, family support workers, foster care staff, foster carers and other caregiving professionals. People whose roles involve low likelihood of trauma exposure (such as prevention-focused services) are not included. Ultimately, this research aims to help youth care organizations better support their workforce, reduce work-related stress, and improve continuity and quality of care for children and families.