Stressful events, social support, and burnout among mental retardation professionals

This study examined correlates of burnout among persons working in the mental retardation field. The stressful job events approach was used to identify and measure stressors among this population. Also measured were the constructs of role overload, role ambiguity, role conflict and participation in agency decision-making. Finally, the role of social support was examined. A list of 39 stressful events associated with work in the mental retardation field was derived from interviews with twenty mental retardation workers. Also elicited from the interviewees was a list of 20 helpful or supportive events. Measures derived from these events were completed by 365 persons employed by 11 midwestern mental retardation agencies. Also included in the survey packet were measures of burnout, social support, role stresses, and lack of input to decision-making. The response rate was 54%. A factor analysis of the stressful events scale yielded 8 factors which provided a useful picture of stress within the mental retardation field. Several of the resulting factor scores correlated significantly with burnout. The role stress scales also correlated with burnout, as did the measure of lack of input to decision-making. Social support was found to have a direct negative relationship with burnout, although the source of the support was found to be important. Support was not found to have an interactive, or buffering effect with stress