Staff attitudes that impede the implementation of behavioral treatment programs

Staff who have negative attitudes about behavioral treatments are less likely to implement them. Previous research suggests that negative attitudes are associated with staff burnout and perceived collegial support. A path analysis is conducted in this study to determine the direction of these effects. Ninety staff members who work in treatment programs for severely mentally ill adults completed measures of attitudes about behavior therapy, experience with behavior therapy, burnout, and collegial support. Results of the path analysis yielded a model with good fit that confirmed our hypotheses; namely, burnout leads to negative attitudes and experience with behavior therapy yields positive attitudes. Insufficient collegial support leads to negative attitudes through burnout. Implications of these findings for improving the use of behavior treatments in real-world programs are discussed.