Work-Based Social Interactions, Perceived Stress, and Workload Incongruence as Antecedents of Athletic Trainer Burnout

Context: Burnout is an important psychological health concern for working professionals. Understanding how psychological stress and markers of workload contribute to athletic trainers' (ATs') perceptions of burnout is highly valuable. Both positive (social support) and negative social interactions should be considered when examining relationships among markers of ATs' health and wellbeing.

Objective: To examine the potential effects of social interactions on the relationships between (1) burnout and perceived stress and (2) burnout and workload incongruence in ATs.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Participating ATs completed a computer-based survey during the fall sports season.

Patients or other participants: Responding participants were ATs randomly sampled from the National Athletic Trainers' Association membership (N = 154; men = 78, women = 76; age = 36.8 ± 9.5 years).

Main outcome measure(s): Participants completed self-report assessments (Perceived Stress Scale, Social Support Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Social Exchanges, Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey) via a secure e-mail link. Workload incongruence was calculated by subtracting anticipated work hours from actual current work hours (6.0 ± 9.6 hours). We used hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine hypothesized relationships among study variables.

Results: Social interactions did not affect the relationships between burnout and perceived stress or workload incongruence at the global or dimensional level. However, perceived stress (β = .47, P < .001), workload incongruence (β = .12, P < .05), and social support (β = -.25, P < .001) predicted global AT burnout. Negative social interactions trended toward significance (β = .12, P = .055). Our findings suggest that stress perceptions and social support drive the dimensional AT burnout experience, whereas workload incongruence (emotional exhaustion) and negative social interactions (depersonalization) were linked to specific burnout dimensions.

Conclusions: Social interactions and markers of stress and workload should be considered when seeking to understand ATs' experiences with burnout and to design workplace interventions.