The validation of the Self-Care Belief and Behavior Questionnaire in the Infant and Early Child Mental Health Workforce

Professionals in the Infant/Early Child Mental Health (IECMH) field are at an increased risk of experiencing burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma symptoms due to the nature of their work that is further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Engagement in self-care may be a helpful strategy for IECMH professionals to curb these psychological effects. Previous operationalizations of self-care have singularly emphasized the behavior aspect despite a growing body of research showing the importance of self-care beliefs. A novel Self-Care Belief and Behavior Questionnaire was tested in a sample of 121 IECMH female identifying professionals located in the United States (between the ages of 18 and 69 with 81.2% identified as White, 12.3% as Black or African American, 2.5% as Latino/a or Latin American, 1.6% as multi-ethnic, .8% as Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1.6% preferred not to answer) to strengthen psychometric validity and understand how self-care relates to professional quality of life, internalizing symptoms, and emotion regulation in the IECMH Workforce.