The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Trainee wellness: self-critical perfectionism, self-compassion, depression, and burnout among doctoral trainees in psychology
Abstract
Training to become a therapist is a uniquely challenging process with frequent evaluation and balancing of multiple roles (e.g. student, teacher, researcher, counselor, and supervisee). In fact, studies report high levels of stress and depression among graduate trainees in psychology. These vulnerabilities can be exacerbated when a trainee is in high in self-critical perfectionism, a feeling that one is never good enough. The present study examines associations between self-critical perfectionism, depression, and burnout among doctoral trainees in psychology, investigating the mediating role of self-compassion. The 119 participants were all students in clinical/counseling psychology doctoral programs. Results indicated that those higher in self-critical perfectionism reported higher levels of depression and burnout. Self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between self-critical perfectionism and depression, and burnout; those higher in self-compassion experienced lower levels of depression and burnout. These results point to the importance of facilitating the development of self-compassion among doctoral trainees, specifically those who are high in self-critical perfectionism.
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“Systematic and narrative reviews highlight additional sample-level moderators, including protective and risk factors35–42. These include financial challenges43, self-doubt44, and social and academic loneliness14,45 as risk factors, and suggest social support, a positive and future-oriented mindset, and self-care14 as potential protective factors.”
From Prevalence and severity of mental health problems in early-career researchers: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2026) · cites this paper as [44]
In the citing paper
“As a potential antidote to the self-doubt associated with negative self-assessments, self-compassion is associated with lower mental distress due to IP and may help doctoral students navigate the challenges of doctoral education more effectively (Patzak et al., 2017; Richardson et al., 2020).”
From Exploring relationships between self-compassion, impostor phenomenon, and mental health among doctoral students (2025) · cites this paper as Richardson et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“The mean score for self-compassion in our sample fell in the low-moderate range, which is slightly lower than recent doctoral student samples (Richardson et al., 2020; Solms et al., 2024; Tigranyan et al., 2021).”
From Exploring relationships between self-compassion, impostor phenomenon, and mental health among doctoral students (2025) · cites this paper as Richardson et al., 2020
Citations
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“Cronbach’s alpha for internal validity of the subscale was high, at .87 (Kristensen et al., 2005).”
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Zessin, U., Dickhäuser, O., & Garbade, S. (2015) · Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/aphw.12051 · Cited by 1,237
The Revised Almost Perfect Scale
Slaney, R. B., Rice, K. G., Mobley, M., Trippi, J., & Ashby, J. S. (2001) · Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development · doi:10.1080/07481756.2002.12069030 · Cited by 1,087
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The relationship between burnout, depression, and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Koutsimani, P., Montgomery, A., & Georganta, K. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00284 · Cited by 1,091
Moderating the Role of Self-Compassion in the Relationship between Perfectionism and Depression
Abdollahi, A., Allen, K. A., & Taheri, A. (2020) · Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1007/s10942-020-00346-3 · Cited by 27
Koutra, K., Mouatsou, C., & Psoma, S. (2023) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs13110932 · Cited by 25
“…has displayed that low levels of self-compassion may act as a susceptibility factor in students with perfectionistic traits, thus leading to burnout, while high self-compassion can buffer the negative effects of perfectionism, potentially protecting individuals from burnout experience [42–44].”
BackgroundSelf-Compassion as a Moderator between Clinical Perfectionism and Psychological Distress
Adams, V., Howell, J., & Egan, S. J. (2023) · Australian Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00050067.2022.2125281 · Cited by 12
Clarke, B. J., & Hartley, M. T. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1669075 · Cited by 3
Metadata
- Authors
- Richardson, C. M. E., Trusty, W. T., & George, K. A.
- Venue
- Counselling Psychology Quarterly
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-09-05
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 187-198
- ISSN
- 0951-5070
- 1469-3674
- Cited by
- 70
- References
- 10
- Language
- en
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- Richardson, C. M. E., Trusty, W. T., & George, K. A. (2020). Trainee wellness: self-critical perfectionism, self-compassion, depression, and burnout among doctoral trainees in psychology. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2018.1509839
