Psychological distress, professional burnout, and trauma in Palestinian health care helpers: A two-wave quantitative longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this longitudinal study was to model the cumulative network of associations between trauma-related symptoms, professional burnout, and psychological distress in health care practitioners working in emergency settings. METHOD: The research was conducted with Palestinian health care helpers (N = 60) operating in Gaza and the West Bank. The study variables were evaluated via repeated quantitative self-report questionnaires collected in two waves and the associations among them were estimated using structural equation modeling, bootstrap methods, and Monte Carlo simulation. RESULTS: The longitudinal structural model offered a good fit for the data (χ²(114) = 161.4, p = .02, NC = 1.42, nonnormed fit index [NNFI] = .950, comparative fit index [CFI] = .951, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .079), in support of the notion that trauma-related outcomes and professional burnout may be associated with mental health across different professional groups. Specifically, trauma-related symptoms wielded a direct effect on professional burnout (β = .28) and psychological distress (β = .11) at T0. Trauma-related symptoms were found to be more strongly associated with professional burnout (β = .40) than with psychological distress (β = .03) at T1. CONCLUSION: Emergency workers operating in an environment marked by instability and ongoing risk need to draw on sources of resistance and resilience to protect their mental health. We discuss both the clinical implications of these findings and future lines of inquiry.