Mental health, wellbeing, and burnout among practicing psychologists following Australian weather disasters and COVID-19

Background: From late 2019, multiple extreme weather events and the COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for psychological services in Australia. Little is known about the concomitant impact on the psychologists delivering these services. This study aimed to assess the consequences of disasters on psychologists’ mental health and wellbeing and identify modifiable risk and protective factors to inform strategies to safeguard this critical workforce. 

Method: In 2022, 469 registered Australian psychologists completed an online survey assessing the impacts of recent disasters (i.e., COVID-19, bushfires, floods, severe storms), perceived barriers to self-care (e.g., time, cost), occupational self-efficacy (OSSF-SF), burnout (BM-S), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and wellbeing (WHO-5). 

Results: A substantial minority of psychologists were experiencing probable work burnout (26.4 %), depression (11.5 %), anxiety (10.2 %), and low personal wellbeing (47.2 %). Compared to those impacted by COVID-19 only, psychologists personally impacted by weather disaster (n = 99) reported significantly higher burnout (d = .36), anxiety (d = .36), and lower wellbeing (d = −.37). They also reported higher negative impacts of COVID-19 (d = .59). The relationships between total disaster impact and mental health outcomes were partly mediated by perceiving more barriers to self-care. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that self-efficacy mitigated the negative effects of barriers to self-care on burnout, depression, and anxiety, but not on wellbeing. 

Conclusions: Findings suggest that experiencing multiple disasters has a compounding effect on psychologists’ professional and personal wellbeing. With climate change increasing disaster exposure, mitigation efforts could support practitioners by reducing barriers to self-care and strengthening occupational self-efficacy.