Distress from clinical work and the associated impact on doctoral students' spirituality and affect

The present study assessed 96 clinical psychology doctoral candidates at APA accredited Christian Institutions to further understand the relationships between distress from clinical work, religious and spiritual (R/S) struggle, God concept, and negative affect. Based on past research, it was hypothesized that distress from clinical work would predict increased R/S struggle, decreased God concept, and increased negative affect. Furthermore, we hypothesized R/S struggle would moderate the relationship between distress from clinical work and negative affect, as well as distress from clinical work and negatively valenced God concept. Findings were significant, and demonstrated that our population experienced increased levels of distress from clinical work, R/S struggle, and negative affect compared to the normed populations. The relationships between distress from clinical work and R/S struggle as well as distress from clinical work and negative affect were significant. R/S struggle further moderated this relationship in that those experiencing R/S struggle alongside distress from clinical work demonstrated increased negative affect. The findings are consistent with past research and indicate that R/S struggle is heightened when a student is experiencing distress from clinical work. Our findings further highlight the combined effect of distress from clinical work and R/S struggle, namely, that it places a student clinician at increased risk of experienced amplified negative affect. A more comprehensive discussion regarding these findings as well as the limitations, areas of future research, and implications for graduate training are included in the following.