The grit of mental health professionals: Initial conceptualization and measurement.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused additional strain and disruption to an already strained mental health workforce. Life disruption, compassion fatigue, and traumatic stress are contributing to record levels of burnout. Efforts are needed to improve retention and the well-being of mental health providers, yet little is known about the personal traits that contribute to compassion satisfaction during difficult times. Professional grit is an emerging concept that has broad applicability and makes a potentially unique contribution to the experiences of professionals in the context of COVID-19. Our paper describes perceptions of professional grit and its association with compassion fatigue and traumatic stress. A small exploratory study was used to analyze results from an online survey of mental health workers (N = 31). Measures included compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and grit, along with open-ended questions to explore perceived contributors to grit. Results confirmed the added stress mental health professionals are working under and 29% met the cut-off for significant traumatic stress symptoms. Participants' responses were coded and a primary theme and contributor to professional grit is coping, inclusive of adaptation, selfcare, perseverance, and professional and personal support. Further, participants identifying the coping skills of self-care, adaptation, and perseverance scored higher on a measure of professional grit. Our study also suggests that grit and suffering are not mutually exclusive, such that many of our participants reported components of professional grit and also reported posttraumatic stress and compassion fatigue symptoms. More extensive studies on the function of professional grit and services to improve coping skills are needed.