A systematic review of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and an empirical study of the associations of empathy and psychological flexibility with burnout and psychological distress in frontline homelessness staff

Thomas, Sophie R. 2020. A systematic review of the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and an empirical study of the associations of empathy and psychological flexibility with burnout and psychological distress in frontline homelessness staff. ClinPsy Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) and is made up of two papers, the systematic review and empirical report. The systematic review aimed to understand the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) interventions for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). ACT aims to increase psychological flexibility, an openness to experiencing internal experiences such as thoughts and feelings, allowing flexible responses to the current situation while pursuing personally meaningful goals and values. ACT posits that psychological inflexibility, being guided by or attempting to control thoughts and feelings, even when this impacts upon the pursuit of personally meaningful goals and values, underlies psychological distress, including PTSD. Four databases were searched, with 1,454 articles screened resulting in nine papers describing ten studies being included in the systematic review. The Psychotherapy Outcome Study Methodology Rating Form (POMRF) was used to assess the quality of these papers. Results indicated that there is preliminary evidence to suggest ACT may be an efficacious intervention for PTSD. However, the quality of the studies was low, so more methodologically rigorous and large-scale trials are required to provide an evidence base for ACT interventions for PTSD. The empirical paper aimed to investigate the roles of individual factors (psychological flexibility and empathy) associated with burnout (measured by three variables: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment) and psychological distress (secondary traumatic stress, burnout, depression, anxiety and stress) in individuals working in homelessness organisations. Burnout and psychological distress can negatively impact the individual as well as those they are supporting, but little research has investigated factors associated with these difficulties. The current research was therefore a unique contribution to the homelessness services literature. A total of 139 participants completed an online survey, with results suggesting that higher psychological flexibility is associated with lower burnout across the three measured domains, and all psychological distress variables. Higher empathy was associated with two burnout factors (lower depersonalisation and higher personal accomplishment). Further analyses suggested that the results tentatively support that interventions to increase psychological flexibility, and for some, empathic concern, may reduce vulnerability to psychological distress and burnout in frontline homelessness staff. Experimental investigations of the outcome of interventions to increase psychological flexibility and empathic concern are recommended in order to support homelessness staff.

Item Type:	Thesis (DClinPsy)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	29 October 2020
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2021 01:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/135999

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