The effects of social support on counselor burnout

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between burnout and social support in Minnesota high school guidance counselors during the l983—84 school year. Social support consisted of: work supervisors, peers, spouses, and friends & relatives. Additionally, the relationships between burnout and four demographic and seven job—related variables were investigated. The demographic variables were: age, sex, marital status, and education. The job-related variables were: opportunity for times-out, percentage of contact with troubled students, student/counselor ratio, instruction on stress and burnout reduction, school setting, school size, and years of counseling experience. Finally, the relationships between burnout and several interactive variables were investigated in order to determine if social support had primarily direct or indirect (buffering) effects. Regression analysis was used to test these relationships. The Following variables were consistently significant throughout the study: 2 social support variables-peer support and supervisor support (both negatively correlated with burnout); 1 demographic variable--age (negatively correlated with burnout), and 2 Job-related variables--percentage of contact with troubled students and student/counselor ratio (respectively, negatively and positively correlated with burnout). None of the interactive variables were significant.