Demographic and work-related correlates of job burnout in professional eating disorder treatment providers.

Abstract

Patients with eating disorders present unique challenges to treatment providers that may contribute to job burnout. This study examined demographic and work-related correlates of three primary components of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and lack of personal accomplishment) in a sample of 296 professional eating disorder treatment providers. Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS; Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996), demographics, and a questionnaire developed by the authors measuring eating disorder-specific factors theorized to be relevant to burnout. Overall, participants reported comparable levels of emotional exhaustion but significantly less cynicism and lack of personal accomplishment relative to established norms for mental health care providers on the MBI-HSS. Analyses of variance and backward regression analyses suggested that higher levels of burnout were associated with being younger, female, and overweight; working longer hours; having less experience; and experiencing a patient's death. Conversely, working in a private practice setting, having children, and having a personal history of an eating disorder were associated with lower burnout levels. Furthermore, over 45% of participants reported that treatment resistance, ego-syntonicity, high relapse rates, worry about patient survival, emotional drain, lack of appropriate financial reimbursement, and extra hours spent working contributed to feelings burned out somewhat to very much. Overall, these data suggest that emotional exhaustion is the most common aspect of burnout experienced by eating disorder treatment providers and highlight some of the key correlates of burnout for this population, which can be used to inform prevention and intervention efforts.

Eating Disorders and Therapist Emotional Responses

“…Clinician experience seems to play an important role in predicting negative responses, with more experienced therapists reporting less negative emotional responses (Warren et al, 2013). We did not examine the influence of specific clinical experience in treating ED patients, and further research is needed to clarify the different impacts between general and specific clinical experience.…”

Factors associated with professional identity, job satisfaction and burnout for occupational therapists working in eating disorders: A mixed methods study

“…All participants found their work professionally rewarding. This is consistent with previous research that has also found high levels of professional satisfaction in individuals working in eating disorder services (Colli et al ., ; Davey et al ., ; Warren et al ., , ). However, participants identified specific challenges related to working with individuals with eating disorders.…”

“…Five of these questions related to occupational therapy-specific practice in eating disorders and eight were related to challenges associated with working with individuals with eating disorders. These questions were developed from literature surrounding professional identity for occupational therapists in mental health (e.g., Ashby et al, 2013;Hayes et al, 2008;Scanlan, Still, Stewart & Croaker, 2010) and job challenges for staff working in eating disorder services (Davey et al, 2014;Warren et al, 2012Warren et al, , 2013. The specific wording of the questions is outlined in Table 2 in the results section.…”

“…Existing literature suggests that occupational therapists working in specialist eating disorder services may be especially vulnerable to experiencing poor work-related wellbeing (e.g., burnout and low job satisfaction). This is due to the unique constellation of job challenges that occupational therapists in these settings may face, including threats to professional identity, the emotionally demanding nature of work in mental health and specific challenges associated with working with individuals with eating disorders (Ashby, Ryan, Gray & James, 2013;Davey, Arcelus & Munir, 2014;Scanlan & Still, 2013;Warren, Schafer, Crowley & Olivardia, 2013).…”

“…Working with individuals with eating disorders also presents unique challenges. The treatment-resistant nature of eating disorders, client ambivalence, high rates of relapse and complex interpersonal relationships have all been identified as stressors related to working with individuals with eating disorders (Colli et al, 2015;Davey et al, 2014;Warren, Schafer, Crowley & Olivardia, 2012;Warren et al, 2013). Additionally therapists' emotional reactions to clients (referred to as 'countertransference'), particularly in response to perceived 'egocentric' personality traits, 'splitting behaviours' and other challenging behaviours, are often strong, challenging to manage and can lead to emotional exhaustion (Colli et al; Davey et al; Warren et al).…”