Evaluating the Relationship between Compassion, Perceived Supervisor Support, and Burnout among ABA Staff

Recent position papers have called for a focus on compassion in the training and practice of board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs; LeBlanc et al. Behavior Analysis in Practice 13, 387-393, 2020; Taylor et al. Behavior Analysis in Practice 12(3), 654-666, 2019). Much of this preliminary effort emphasizes the importance of compassion in behavior analysts' work with families of individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities, highlighting research from other fields that demonstrates a relation between practitioner empathy and patient outcome. However, some research in burnout among applied behavior analysis (ABA) professionals indicates that supervisory relationships play important roles in the well-being of ABA professionals (Gibson et al. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders 39, 1024-1030, 2009). The current study will report on findings from a survey of 1,335 ABA providers that measured burnout, BCBA compassion, and perceived supervisor support. A one-way ANOVA found statistically significant differences in burnout between job positions. Multiple regression and mediation analyses found that perceived supervisor support mediates the relationship between supervisor compassion and staff burnout. Implications for the training of BCBAs in supervision and for behavior analytic organizations are discussed.