Stress and Burnout Among Counselor Educators: Differences Between Adaptive Perfectionists, Maladaptive Perfectionists, and Nonperfectionists

Abstract

This study examined perfectionism in a national sample of 178 counselor educators to explore why certain groups of counselor educators may be at greater risk for experiencing stress and burnout. In line with previous literature, latent profile analysis based on measures of perfectionism supported a 3‐class model (i.e., adaptive perfectionists, nonperfectionists, and maladaptive perfectionists). Maladaptive perfectionists had significantly higher levels of perceived stress, work‐related burnout, personal burnout, and student‐related burnout compared with adaptive perfectionists and nonperfectionists.

Perfectionism and School Counselors: Differences in Stress, Coping, and Burnout

“…However, when only the work‐related studies were explored, this relationship changed, with the relationship between perfectionistic concerns and burnout strengthening and the relationship between perfectionistic strivings and burnout weakening. This trend is mirrored in various work‐related samples, such as teachers (Childs & Stoeber, , ), coaches (Tashman, Tenenbaum, & Eklund, ), counselor educators (Moate et al, ), psychologists (D'souza, Egan, & Rees, ), and sign language interpreters (Schwenke et al, ). In our review of the literature, we located only one study that included a sample of school counselors and the positive relationship between perfectionistic concerns and burnout.…”

“…Perfectionism is a personality characteristic that has received increased attention as a factor that influences stress and burnout (e.g., Childs & Stoeber, , ; Moate et al, ; Schwenke et al, ; Stoeber & Rennert, ). Although earlier researchers viewed perfectionism as unhealthy and a pathological pursuit of unrealistic high standards (Burns, ), more recent studies have viewed perfectionism as a multidimensional construct (e.g., Gnilka, Rice, Ashby, & Moate, ; Noble, Ashby, & Gnilka, ).…”

“…Researchers have increasingly focused on differentiating between different subtypes of perfectionists and nonperfectionists based on the two dimensions discussed. For instance, researchers using latent profile analysis (LPA) have demonstrated that individuals can be classified into three distinct groups (e.g., Moate et al, ; Suh, Gnilka, & Rice, ) consistent with Parker's () tripartite model of perfectionism. For the three‐class model, individuals who have high levels of both perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns are typically labeled maladaptive perfectionists.…”

“…Burnout is described as a combination of individual (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreasing personal accomplishment; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, ) and environmental (i.e., work or organizational stressors; Lee et al, ; Maslach et al, ) characteristics. Human services professionals may experience burnout (Newell & MacNeil, ), and a number of studies have shown varying levels of burnout among counselors in several counseling professions, including among clinical mental health counselors (Lim, Kim, Kim, Yang, & Lee, ), counselor educators (Moate et al, ), and school counselors (Moyer, ; Wilkerson, ). To encompass the intrapersonal and environmental characteristics of burnout, Lee et al () developed the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI), which consists of five subscales: Exhaustion, Negative Work Environment, Devaluing Clients, Incompetence, and Deterioration in Personal Life.…”

“…With the large number of daily roles and demands, school counseling is a stressful profession (Falls & Nichter, ; Sears & Navin, ), and many counselors feel burned out (Wilkerson & Bellini, ). Researchers have begun to focus on personality characteristics that may predict differences in employee stress and burnout levels among employees (Garrosa, Moreno‐Jimenez, Liang, & Gonzalez, ), and specifically, they have focused on perfectionism (e.g., Childs & Stoeber, , ; Moate, Gnilka, West, & Bruns, ; Schwenke, Ashby, & Gnilka ; Stoeber & Rennert, ). Regrettably, no empirical studies have explored how perfectionism relates to stress, coping processes, and burnout among school counselors.…”