Coping strategies for compassion fatigue in laboratory animal professionals: a scoping review

Freire, Isabel Maria Alexandre; Abreu, Mariana Boechat de; Silva, Luiz Cesar Cavalcanti Pereira da; Andrade, Thais Afonso; Almeida, Edna dos Santos; Pereira-Guizzo, Camila de Sousa

doi:10.1590/2317-6369/24724pt2025v50e22

person Isabel Maria Alexandre Freire

contributed to the conception of the study · data collection, analysis, and interpretation · writing and critical review of the manuscript · The authors have approved the final version and take full public responsibility for the work carried out and the content published

school Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biomodelos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

0009-0005-0610-7364

person Mariana Boechat de Abreu

contributed to the conception of the study · data collection, analysis, and interpretation · writing and critical review of the manuscript · The authors have approved the final version and take full public responsibility for the work carried out and the content published

school Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

0000-0002-4878-2182

person Luiz Cesar Cavalcanti Pereira da Silva

contributed to the conception of the study · data collection, analysis, and interpretation · writing and critical review of the manuscript · The authors have approved the final version and take full public responsibility for the work carried out and the content published

school Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia em Biomodelos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

0009-0009-4120-7597

person Thais Afonso Andrade

contributed to the conception of the study · data collection, analysis, and interpretation · writing and critical review of the manuscript · The authors have approved the final version and take full public responsibility for the work carried out and the content published

schoolServiço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, Centro Integrado de Manufatura e Tecnologia. Salvador, BA, Brazil.

0000-0002-5784-1674

person Edna dos Santos Almeida

contributed to the conception of the study · data collection, analysis, and interpretation · writing and critical review of the manuscript · The authors have approved the final version and take full public responsibility for the work carried out and the content published

schoolServiço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, Centro Integrado de Manufatura e Tecnologia. Salvador, BA, Brazil.

0000-0001-5111-062X

person Camila de Sousa Pereira-Guizzo

contributed to the conception of the study · data collection, analysis, and interpretation · writing and critical review of the manuscript · The authors have approved the final version and take full public responsibility for the work carried out and the content published

schoolServiço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, Centro Integrado de Manufatura e Tecnologia. Salvador, BA, Brazil.

0000-0003-4197-8534

personContact: Isabel Maria Alexandre Freire
E-mail: isabel.freire@fiocruz.br

Competing interests:

The authors declare that there are no competing interests.

Editor-in-Chief:

Leila Posenato Garcia

.	.
PubMed/Medline Rumpel et al ⁹	(“psychological distress”[tw] OR “psychological stress”[tw] OR burnout[tw] OR “burn-out”[tw] OR “compassion stress”[tw] OR “emotional labour”[tw] OR “emotional labor”[tw] OR “mental distress”[tw] OR “mental stress”[tw] OR “ethical dilemma”[tw] OR “emotional distress”[tw] OR “emotional stress”[tw] OR “moral stress”[tw] OR “occupational stress”[tw] OR “workplace stress”[tw] OR “job stress”[tw] OR “compassion fatigue”[tw] OR “cognitive dissonance”[tw] OR “psychological strain”[tw] OR “animal technicians/ethics”[MeSH Terms] OR “animal technicians/psychology”[MeSH Terms] OR “compassion fatigue”[MeSH Terms] OR “veterinarians/ethics”[MeSH Terms] OR “veterinarians/psychology”[MeSH Terms] OR “Cognitive Dissonance”[MeSH Terms] OR “Stress, Psychological”[Mesh]) AND (“animal test”[tw] OR “experimental animal”[tw] OR “research animal”[tw] OR “animal stud”[tw] OR “animal trial”[tw] OR vivisection[tw] OR “lab animal”[tw] OR “Animal Research”[tw] OR “animal experiment”[tw] OR “laboratory animal”[tw] OR “Animal Euthanasia”[tw] OR “Animal Experimentation”[MH:noexp] OR “animals, laboratory”[MH:noexp] OR “euthanasia, animal”[MeSH Terms])
Embase modified from Rumpel et al ⁹	((“psychological distress” or “psychological stress” or burnout or “burn-out” or “compassion stress” or “emotional labour” or “emotional labor” or “mental distress” or “mental stress” or “ethical dilemma” or “emotional distress” or “emotional stress” or “moral stress” or “occupational stress” or “workplace stress” or “job stress” or “compassion fatigue” or “cognitive dissonance” or “psychological strain”):ti,ab,kw or (“Distress syndrome”/de or “burnout”/de or “mental stress”/de or “emotional stress”/de or “job stress”/de or “compassion fatigue”/de)) and ((“animal test” or “experimental animal” or “research animal” or “animal stud” or “animal trial” or vivisection or “lab animal” or “Animal Research” or “animal experiment” or “laboratory animal*” or “animal euthanasia”):ti,ab,kw or (“animal experiment”/de or “experimental animal”/de or “animal euthanasia”/de))
Pubpsych Rumpel et al ⁹	(“psychological distress” OR “psychischer Stress” OR “psychological stress” OR “psychische Belastung” OR burnout OR “burn-out” OR ausgebrannt OR “compassion stress” OR “emotional labour” OR “emotional labor” OR “mental distress” OR “mental stress” OR “ethical dilemma” OR “ethisches Dilemma” OR “emotional distress” OR “emotional stress” OR “emotionale Belastung” OR “emotionale Beanspruchung” OR “moralische Belastung” OR “moralische Beanspruchung” OR “moral stress” OR “moralisches Dilemma” OR “occupational stress” OR “workplace stress” OR “job stress” OR “compassion fatigue” OR “cognitive dissonance” OR “kognitive Dissonanz” OR “psychological strain” OR “psychische Beanspruchung”) AND (“animal test” OR “Tierversuch” OR “experimental animal” OR “Versuchstier” OR “Labortier” OR “research animal” OR “animal stud” OR “Tierstudie” OR “Tier-Studie” OR “animal trial” OR vivisection OR “lab animal” OR “animal research” OR “animal experiment” OR “laboratory animal” OR “Euthan” OR töten OR Tötung)
PsycINFO modified from Rumpel et al ⁹	(“psychological distress” OR “psychische Belastung” OR “psychische Beanspruchung” OR “psychological stress” OR “psychischer Stress” OR Burnout OR ausgebrannt OR “burn-out” OR “compassion stress” OR “emotional labour” OR “emotional labor” OR “mental distress” OR “mental stress” OR “ethical dilemma” OR “ethisches Dilemma” OR “emotional distress” OR “emotionale Belastung” OR “emotionale Beanspruchung” OR “emotional stress” OR “moral stress” OR “moralische Belastung” OR “moralische Beanspruchung” OR “moralisches Dilemma” OR “occupational stress” OR “workplace stress” OR “job stress” OR “compassion fatigue” OR “cognitive dissonance” OR “kognitive Dissonanz” OR “psychological strain” OR “animal technicians/ethics” OR “animal technicians/psychology” OR “compassion fatigue” OR “veterinarians/ethics” OR “veterinarians/psychology” OR “Cognitive Dissonance” OR “Stress, Psychological”) AND (“animal test” OR “Tierversuch” OR “experimental animal” OR “Versuchstier” OR “research animal” OR “animal stud” OR “Tierstudie” OR “Tier-Studie” OR “animal trial” OR Vivisection OR “lab animal” OR “Animal Research” OR “animal experiment” OR “laboratory animal” OR “Labortier” OR “Animal Euthanasia” OR Euthanasie OR Töten OR Tötung OR “Animal Experimentation” OR “animals, laboratory” OR “euthanasia, animal”)

Title	Author	Year of publication	Country of origin	Journal
Professional quality of life in research involving laboratory animals ¹⁸	Olatz Goñi-Balentziaga Sergi Vila	2021	Spain	Animals
	Iván Ortega-Saez
	Oscar Vegas
	Garikoitz Azkona
Compassion fatigue in laboratory animal personnel during the COVID-19 Pandemic ¹³	Sarah Thurston	2021	United States	Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science
	Goldia Chan
	Lisa Burlingame
	Jennifer Jones
	Patrick Lester
	Tara Martin
Compassion fatigue and satisfaction in US Army Laboratory Animal Medicine Personnel ¹⁹	Teresa Schlanser	2021	United States	Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science
	Peter Rabinowitz
	Sally Thompson-Iritani
Compassionate quality of life in research involving laboratory animals from Europe, China, and Japan ¹²	Carly O’Malley	2022	United States	Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science
	Carly Moody
	Adrian Foster
	Patricia Turner
Resilience in animal care professions: does the stress shield model fit? ²⁰	Nicole Cushing	2022	Australia	Australian Veterinary Journal
	Crystal Meehan
	Kimberley Norris
Professional quality of life in animal research personnel is linked to retention & job satisfaction: a mixed-methods cross-sectional survey on compassion fatigue in the USA ²¹	Lauren Young	2024	United States	Plos One
	Fabienne Ferrara
	Lisa Kelly
	Tara Martin
	Sally ThompsonIritani
	Megan LaFollette
What can laboratory animal facility managers do to improve the welfare of laboratory animals and laboratory animal facility staff? A German perspective ²²	Birte von der Beck	2024	Germany	Animals
	Andreas Wissmann
	Rene H. Tolba
	Philip Dammann
	Gero Hilken
Perceived professional quality of life and mental well-being among animal facility personnel in Spain ²³	Olatz Goñi-Balentziaga	2024	Spain	Laboratory Animals
	Garikoitz Azkona	2024	Spain	Laboratory Animals

Main author (year)	Methodology	Sample	Compassion fatigue assessment instrument	Coping strategies
Arluke (1999)²⁴	Qualitative - observational: interview	130 interviewees: technicians, caregivers, researchers, post-graduate fellows, administrative staff	-	Institutional emotional support; policy on performing euthanasia (rotation/volunteers); rituals of recognition and purpose of animal research
Chang and Hard (2002)²⁵	Quantitative - questionnaire and interview	27 participants: veterinarians and caregivers	-	Seminars for appreciation, training, integration; emotional support
Rohlf and Bennett (2005)²⁶	Quantitative - questionnaire application	148 participants: animal facility staff, researchers and research support	Event Impact Scale - Revised	Counseling on death, stress management, informing on recruitment about the practice of euthanasia
Davies and Duncan (2010)²⁷	Qualitative - group discussion	Animal technicians	-	-
Kang et al. (2018)²⁸	Quantitative - questionnaire application	193 researchers: users and non-users of laboratory animals	State-Trait Anxiety Inventory	-
Friese and Latimer (2019)²⁹	Qualitative - interview and observation	Animal technicians, laboratory leaders, postgraduate scientists, and a veterinarian	-	The practice of environmental enrichment to promote the health and well-being of both animals and caregivers; adoption of an interspecies approach, recognizing the connection between animal care and the well-being of those involved in biomedical research
Scotney et al. (2019)³⁰	Quantitative - questionnaire application	229 participants	Professional Quality of Life Scale	Resources aimed at ensuring mental well-being and a positive work/life balance for all employees
Scotney et al. (2019)³⁰	Quantitative - questionnaire application	229 participants	(ProQOL)
Engel et al. (2020)³¹	Quantitative - questionnaire application	309 participants: veterinary technicians and veterinary doctors	Questionnaire developed by the research team	Recognize the risks inherent in the job; transparent communication; institutional support with resources and a supportive environment; refinement and training to improve animal welfare
LaFollette et al. (2020)⁴	Quantitative - questionnaire application	801 participants: animal facility staff	ProQOL	Psychological and social support, coping tools, relaxation techniques such as mindfulness
Pavan et al. (2020)³²	Quantitative - questionnaire application	70 participants: animal facility staff	Questionnaire developed by the research team	Socialization, mandatory training for beginners, open dialogue about fatigue, training leaders in identifying fatigue symptoms, rotation for challenging tasks, counselling and psychological support, inviting researchers to present their projects to animal facility staff, raising staff awareness at regular meetings about institutional resources
Glenk et al. (2020)³³	Quantitative - questionnaire application	4 researchers	Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; Pet Attitude Scale; Inventory of Personality Characteristics	Social support; ethical use of animals; relevance of research; self-care: leisure, sports, family time
Randall et al. (2021)¹⁴	Quantitative - cross-sectional study using a questionnaire	422 respondents: caregivers, veterinarians, research support	Questionnaire developed by the research team	Dialogue with someone trustworthy, time away from work, self-care practices, physical activity, owning pets
Goñi-Balentziaga et al. (2021)¹⁸	Quantitative - questionnaire application	498 participants: caregivers, veterinarians, technicians, researchers, students	ProQOL	-
Thurston et al. (2021)¹³	Quantitative - questionnaire application	170 participants	ProQOL	Self-care practices (support groups, professional psychological support); information on compassion fatigue; counselling; actions aimed at mental health; institutional recognition; socialization; adequate remuneration (salary, time off, food); workload adequacy
Schlanser et al. (2021)¹⁹	Quantitative - cross-sectional study using a questionnaire	65 veterinary officers and/or caregivers	ProQOL	-
O’Malley et al. (2022)¹²	Quantitative - questionnaire application	415 participants	Questionnaire developed by the research team	Talking to someone, physical activity, self-care practices, professional help, taking time off work
Cushing et al. (2022)²⁰	Quantitative - questionnaire application	393 professionals, 50 of whom were biotherapists	Brief COPE; Big Five Theory; Team-Member Exchange; Leader-Member Exchange; Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire; Questionnaire II; PEI (Psychological Empowerment Instrument); Job Satisfaction Scale; Perceived Stress Scale; Resilience Scale for Adults	Training, strengthening confidence, emotional support, adequate working conditions, improving interpersonal relationships, supportive work environment, reducing workload, practices aimed at mental and emotional health such as mindfulness, yoga
Young et al. (2024⁾	Qualitative/ Quantitative - questionnaire application	198 participants: caregivers and researchers	ProQOL	Factors related to organizational culture: support, appreciation and recognition, adequate training and remuneration; awareness of compassion fatigue, recognition of symptoms, destigmatization of compassion fatigue
von der Beck et al. (2024)²²	Not applicable	Not applicable	-	Provide an environment that meets the animals’ needs and promotes well-being; cooperate with the institution’s occupational health services, introduce mental rest and break tools, teach good ergonomic practices; open and effective communication between all people involved; participatory management and shared decisions; destigmatize animal research work through honesty, reflection and self-confidence.
Goñi-Balentziaga and Azkona (2024⁾	Quantitative - questionnaire application	80 participants	ProQOL, Cognitive and Affective Empathy Test and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale	Psychological treatment

Authors/Actions	Emotional/ psychological support	Self-care practices	Professional valorization	Transparent communication/ integration	Awareness of Compassion Fatigue	Animal welfare actions	Technical training	Euthanasia standards
Arluke²⁴	●		●					●
Chang and Hard²⁵	●		●	●			●
Rohlf and Bennett²⁶	●							●
Friese and Latimer²⁹		●				●
Scotney et al.³⁰	●	●
Engel et al.³¹	●			●	●	●
LaFollette et al.⁴	●	●
Pavan et al.³²	●		●	●	●		●	●
Glenk et al.³³	●	●		●		●
Randall et al.¹⁴	●	●
Thurston et al.¹³	●	●	●		●
O’Malley et al.¹²	●	●
Cushing et al.²⁰	●	●		●			●
Young et al.²¹	●		●		●		●
von der Beck et al.²²	●	●	●	●	●	●
Goni-Balentziaga and Azkona²³	●
Total (n)	15	9	6	6	5	4	4	3

Coping strategies for compassion fatigue in laboratory animal professionals: a scoping review

Abstract