Abstract: Personal distress is an aspect of the empathy construct which has been
negatively associated with a range of psychological and behavioral problems. However,
it is unclear whether mindfulness serves to buffer these negative relationships. This study
examines direct effects and mediation effects of personal distress and mindfulness among
three measures of professional quality of life: compassion fatigue, burnout, and
compassion satisfaction. This model was tested using a sample of clinical social workers
(n = 171). Results indicated that higher personal distress is significantly associated with
higher compassion fatigue and burnout and lower compassion satisfaction, while
mindfulness is significantly associated with lower compassion fatigue and burnout and
higher compassion satisfaction. Mediation analyses showed significant indirect effects on
all three measures of professional quality of life, with effect sizes in the small to moderate
range. The indirect effects of mindfulness via the personal distress path accounted for 14-
22% of the total effect of mindfulness on the three measures of professional quality of life.
Implications for the education and training of social workers are discussed.
Keywords: Personal distress, mindfulness, empathy, compassion fatigue, burnout