Social support and self‐efficacy serially mediate the association of strength of identification with text‐based crisis support line volunteers' compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction

Abstract

Help‐line services provide a vital support to individuals experiencing mental or personal crisis. Recent years has seen a rise in both text‐based services as well as remote working conditions for those who offer help‐line services. Previous research has demonstrated positive and negative outcomes for individuals voluntarily offering support at crisis‐line services. However, few studies have focused on the mechanisms at work. The social identity approach offers one potential avenue for exploration. Specifically, individuals who meaningfully identify as a volunteer can unlock the benefits of the social cure. However, this pathway has not been tested for volunteers in remote working environments. The current study tested associations between identification with a crisis support organisation, well‐being outcomes, perceptions of social‐support, and self‐efficacy in remote text‐based services. This study collected data from 157 crisis‐support line volunteers in two remote‐working contexts. Results indicated a serial mediated indirect effect. Specifically, increased identification as a volunteer predicted increased perceptions of social support. In addition, social support predicted higher levels of self‐efficacy, resulting in increased levels of compassion satisfaction along with decreased levels of burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Results emphasise the role of social identity and perceptions of social support in promoting positive outcomes for remote‐working volunteers.

Articles from and inspired by the fifth International Conference on Social Identity and Health

“…For these older adults, government messaging confirmed negative stereotypes of helplessness and dependency, regardless of their physical condition and deprived them of the active prosocial roles (and associated group memberships) within their local communities that gave many of them a sense of meaning and purpose in retirement. Relatedly, and supporting Donnellan, Bradshaw, and McMahon's (2023) findings regarding the group‐related processes through which volunteering can positively predict health and well‐being in the context of a text‐based crisis support line, Gray, Randell, Manning, and Cleveland's (2023) survey work on volunteering during the pandemic highlights how this prosocial group engagement benefitted some volunteers, but not all of them. Longstanding volunteers evidenced identity and well‐being benefits, but new volunteers who took on significant volunteering responsibilities suffered exhaustion and burnout.…”

Digital altruism: the motivators for, effects of and support received when moderating mental health online

“…When considering the motivators to engage with the moderating role, personal experiences of mental health and digital altruism were prominent factors. Moderators with previous lived experiences of mental health issues had garnered insightful knowledge throughout their journeys (Donnellan et al , 2023). Many used the role to disseminate information and techniques that they had deemed beneficial to their selves personally.…”

“…There is a plethora of research that explores the positive effects of moderator presence for users of social media sites or OMHCs (Cohan et al , 2017; Smedley and Coulson, 2017; Milne et al , 2019; Wadden et al , 2021). There is evidence to suggest that crisis support line volunteers experience negative impacts such as compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and burnout (Donnellan et al , 2023). However, this research focused on text-based chat as opposed to OMHCs.…”