Correlation matrix of study variables.

<div> Introduction Mental health professionals (MHP) are exposed to several stressors and have emotionally demanding jobs. They must effectively manage their emotions within their everyday practice. Emotion regulation is therefore a key element in understanding how MHPs can protect themselves psychologically. Abundant research shows that healthy and effective emotion regulation can protect against the negative impact of stress on compassion fatigue. However, this perspective does not consider the dynamic interaction that emotion regulation and compassion fatigue can have over time. A much less researched perspective is how compassion fatigue can change emotion regulation styles over time. The present research focused on this dynamic perspective. Objective We took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, a stressful period for MHPs, to study the effect of perceived stress on the direction of the changes in emotion regulation styles and compassion fatigue over time. Methods Data on stressors, perceived stress, emotion regulation styles (i.e., dysregulation, integration, and suppression), and compassion fatigue were collected from 390 MHPs at two time points over ten months. Results Findings from a cross-lagged path analysis suggests that perceived stress predicted increases in dysregulation over time. Moreover, there were bidirectional longitudinal associations between dysregulation and compassion fatigue, with each predicting increases in compassion fatigue and dysregulation over time, respectively. Conclusions This study contributes to the limited research on the factors that influence how MHPs regulate their emotions and their susceptibility to compassion fatigue. Implications of emotion regulation for MHPs’ own mental health and ability to do their work effectively are discussed. </div>