Predictors of burnout among correctional mental health professionals

This study focused on the experience of burnout among a sample of correctional mental health professionals. We examined the relationship of a linear combination of optimism, work family conflict, and attitudes toward prisoners with two dimensions derived from the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Initially, three subscales from the Maslach Burnout Inventory and two subscales from the Professional Quality of Life Scale were subjected to principal components analysis with oblimin rotation in order to identify underlying dimensions among the subscales. This procedure resulted in two components accounting for approximately 75% of the variance (r = -.27). The first component was labeled Negative Experience of Work because it seemed to tap the experience of being emotionally spent, detached, and socially avoidant. The second component was labeled Positive Experience of Work and seemed to tap a sense of competence, success, and satisfaction in one's work. Two multiple regression analyses were subsequently conducted, in which Negative Experience of Work and Positive Experience of Work, respectively, were predicted from a linear combination of optimism, work family conflict, and attitudes toward prisoners. In the first analysis, 44% of the variance in Negative Experience of Work was accounted for, with work family conflict and optimism accounting for the most variance. In the second analysis, 24% of the variance in Positive Experience of Work was accounted for, with optimism and attitudes toward prisoners accounting for the most variance.