An investigation into predictors of Maslach's three dimensions of burnout in mental health staff

Abstract

The literature investigating predictors of burnout in mental health staff was reviewed using a systematic approach. Seventeen empirical studies were identified. A high level of variety in terms of the independent variables selected by researchers was observed within the literature. Important predictors of burnout included workload, autonomy and control in the workplace, duration of experience of working in mental health, satisfaction and gratitude in the workplace, social support in the workplace, appropriate supervision, and the way that staff experienced working with service users. Study limitations include the use of cross-sectional data, that data were collected at a single time point, and the employment of self-selection methods of recruitment.
Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) was launched in 2006, including investment in a new mental health workforce. The current study hypothesised that IAPT therapists would exhibit high burnout and that age, experience, job demands, healing and stressful involvement and general self-efficacy would predict burnout. A cross-sectional design explored burnout in 112 IAPT therapists. A high level of burnout was exhibited; independent-samples t-tests confirmed emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation were significantly higher than that in a prior sample of IAPT therapists (Steel Macdonald, Schroder & Mellor-Clark, 2015). Regression models indicated emotional exhaustion was predicted by psychological job demands and stressful involvement; depersonalisation was predicted by stressful involvement, experience, supervisor support and psychological job demands; personal accomplishment was predicted by healing and stressful involvement with clients. Results suggest that IAPT therapists are on a worrying trajectory of burnout; services are advised to urgently address the issue of burnout within therapists, recommendations are discussed.

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ORCID for Nicholas Maguire: orcid.org/0000-0003-4295-8068

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