Compassion Fatigue Test
Explore the effects of exposure to others’ traumatic experiences, helper burnout, and satisfaction from caring work. Twenty-four original adult questions keep these three areas separate, with an educational result and an optional PDF copy.
Compassion Fatigue Test is a free, confidential 24-question self-assessment, original items · Helping-role wellbeing. It takes about 5 minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a plain-language score across 3 interpretation bands plus an optional in-depth report. It is an educational screening, not a diagnosis.
Caring work can bring strain and satisfaction together
For adult clinicians, nurses, first responders, teachers, carers, and others in helping roles. The main result concerns secondary traumatic stress; read burnout and compassion satisfaction separately.
Secondary traumatic stress
Original statements ask about reactions linked to hearing about or encountering others’ traumatic experiences through a helping role. This is the primary score. It does not establish PTSD or assume that all demanding caring work involves indirect trauma exposure.
Helper burnout
A separate score describes depletion and distance associated with helping-role demands. It can be elevated even when secondary traumatic stress is low. Our educational grouping does not assess staffing quality or prove that a person is unfit for their role.
Compassion satisfaction
Eight statements make room for satisfaction in useful, caring work. This strength score is never subtracted from strain. Finding meaning in helping someone does not make excessive demands acceptable or remove the need for rest and organizational support.
| Feature | Typical free quiz | Psychology.com |
|---|---|---|
| Main result | May combine all helping stress into one label | Primary score limited to secondary traumatic stress |
| Burnout | May conflate exhaustion with trauma reactions | Separate eight-item burnout metric |
| Positive experiences | May omit satisfaction | Separate compassion satisfaction strength score |
| Items | May present a licensed questionnaire without clear provenance | Twenty-four original statements |
| Groupings | May imply clinical subscales | Our three balanced educational groupings |
| Next steps | May place responsibility entirely on the helper | Clinical support alongside supervision and workload changes |
How scoring works
Answers are scored 0–32 in total. Your result falls into one of 3 bands:
| Score | Band | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 | Less reported secondary stress | Trauma-linked reactions were less frequent in the month you described. |
| 11–21 | Recurring secondary stress | Several trauma-linked reactions were recurring features of your month. |
| 22–32 | Frequent secondary stress | Your answers suggest frequent trauma-linked reactions that merit professional support. |
Methodology & sources
This original questionnaire is informed by professional quality-of-life research, including Stamm’s discussion of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion satisfaction. It contains three sections of eight original statements each and uses a past-month timeframe. Secondary traumatic stress refers here to reactions associated with exposure to others’ traumatic experiences in a helping role. Helper burnout concerns depletion and distance in that role, while compassion satisfaction concerns the positive experience of providing care. These are our educational groupings, not validated subscales. None of the items reproduces an established questionnaire. The main score deliberately focuses on secondary traumatic stress so that trauma-related reactions are not silently combined with general workload strain.
Each response scores 0 to 4, producing three separate totals of 0 to 32 with no reversed items. The primary score is secondary traumatic stress; burnout appears as a metric, and compassion satisfaction is a strength score. Satisfaction never cancels or reduces either strain score. Primary bands of 0 to 10, 11 to 21, and 22 to 32 are educational thirds, not clinical cutoffs, percentile ranks, or established instrument categories. Satisfaction levels use the same starting points. The questionnaire is unvalidated and cannot establish PTSD, work capacity, or a clinical condition. It is for adult self-reflection, including unpaid helping roles, but has no validation for family carers. Read all three scores alongside actual exposure, support, workload, and functioning.
References
- Stamm BH. (2010). The Concise Professional Quality of Life Manual, 2nd edition. Pocatello, Idaho: ProQOL.org. proqol.org/proqol-manual
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2011). Secondary Traumatic Stress: A Fact Sheet for Child-Serving Professionals. nctsn.org/resources/secondary-traumatic-stress-fact-sheet-child-serving-professionals
- World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon: International Classification of Diseases. who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 13). Compassion Fatigue Test. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/compassion-fatigue
Compassion Fatigue Test FAQ
Is this the ProQOL?
No. The Professional Quality of Life measure, commonly called ProQOL, is an established measure covering compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The current ProQOL-5 has thirty items and its own scoring guidance. This page has twenty-four original statements and different score ranges. It reproduces no ProQOL items, and its scores cannot be converted into ProQOL results.
How is compassion fatigue different from burnout?
Compassion fatigue is used in different ways, sometimes as an umbrella for the costs of helping. Here the main result is secondary traumatic stress, linked to exposure to others’ traumatic experiences. Burnout appears separately and can occur without that exposure. Our <a href="/tests/burnout">Burnout Test</a> offers another work-focused lens. A low main score does not cancel high burnout.
Does a high secondary traumatic stress score mean PTSD?
No. This questionnaire does not establish the required clinical pattern, exposure criteria, duration, or alternative explanations. A qualified clinician can assess distress linked to indirect or direct trauma exposure. Our <a href="/tests/ptsd">PTSD Test</a> provides separate educational screening, but another quiz is not needed before seeking care for intrusive memories, avoidance, sleep disruption, or impaired functioning.
Can I love my work and still be struggling?
Yes. Satisfaction in helping and substantial strain can coexist. The positive score is kept separate so it cannot conceal difficult reactions or burnout. Enjoying your role is not evidence that staffing levels, exposure, or workload are safe. Read the strain scores and actual daily effects on their own, then consider what needs to change in your support or work conditions.
Can family carers take this test?
Adults in unpaid helping roles can use these original statements for reflection, but no scores have been validated for family carers. The established professional measure also cautions against assuming its suitability for that population. Our <a href="/tests/caregiver-burnout">Caregiver Burnout Test</a> focuses more specifically on family-care demands. If you have no indirect trauma exposure, low secondary-stress scores can coexist with substantial caring strain.
Should an employer use this to evaluate staff?
No. These unvalidated self-reports should not determine competence, performance, fitness for duty, or access to support. Individual results are for personal reflection and should be shared only by choice. A workplace needs its own appropriate process for staffing, exposure, safety, and wellbeing. Support should be available without requiring someone to reach a score threshold or disclose private experiences.
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