The Prevalence of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Professionals and Volunteers Working With Forcibly Displaced People: A Systematic Review and Two Meta-Analyses

Abstract

Research suggests that professionals and volunteers who work with forcibly displaced people (FDP) experience burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) as a result of working with such a highly traumatized population. In the present systematic review and meta-analyses, we report the pooled prevalence rates of burnout and STS in individuals working both professionally and voluntarily with FDP. The CINAHL Complete, E-Journals, ERIC, MEDLINE Complete, OpenDissertations, PsycARTICLES, and PsycINFO databases were searched for articles published historically to September 2019. Studies (N = 15) were included and assessed for quality if (a) their sample comprised individuals working in a professional or voluntary capacity with refugees, asylum seekers, forced migrants, or displaced persons and (b) reported on an outcome of STS or burnout. Two meta-analyses were conducted using random-effects models to assess the prevalence of (a) burnout and (b) STS. The pooled prevalence of high-level burnout was 29.7%, 95% CI [13.8%, 45.6%], with considerable heterogeneity between studies, Q(5) = 112.42, p