This page was translated automatically from Turkish. Read the original

This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0990

The emotional burden on mental health clinicians under different autonomy frameworks

EMOTIONAL BURDEN OF MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIANS UNDER DIFFERENT AUTONOMY FRAMEWORKS

The relational autonomy framework increases clinicians’ emotional burden by approximately 0.64 points compared with the traditional autonomy framework, with this increase primarily attributable to relational stress and empathy fatigue.

The study aimed to compare the emotional burden imposed on mental health clinicians by traditional and relational autonomy frameworks in the treatment of patients with acute psychosis. Fifty-one mental health clinicians evaluated a hypothetical case of acute schizophrenia under both frameworks, and emotional exhaustion was rated using 5-point Likert scales covering domains such as emotional distance, moral conflict, and empathy fatigue. Overall emotional burden was higher under relational autonomy (mean 3.64) than under traditional autonomy (mean 3.00). The highest-rated domains under relational autonomy were relational stress (4.14), empathy fatigue (3.86), and emotional overinvolvement (3.79). Under traditional autonomy, the burden was concentrated in stress related to patient resistance (3.64) and moral discomfort (2.86). The authors note that while relational autonomy strengthens trust between patients and clinicians, it increases emotional strain on providers, whereas traditional autonomy reduces the overall burden but exposes clinicians to patient resistance and moral discomfort. As a clinical implication, institutions adopting relational ethical approaches are advised to implement them alongside clinician support systems and training in emotion regulation, supervision, and boundary setting. The findings’ reliance on a single hypothetical scenario and a relatively small sample (n = 51) was reported as a limitation.

All WCP 2026 summaries