Patients with eating disorders present unique challenges to treatment providers that may contribute to job burnout. This study examined demographic and work-related correlates of three primary components of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and lack of personal accomplishment) in a sample of 296 professional eating disorder treatment providers. Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS; Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996), demographics, and a questionnaire developed by the authors measuring eating disorder-specific factors theorized to be relevant to burnout. Overall, participants reported comparable levels of emotional exhaustion but significantly less cynicism and lack of personal accomplishment relative to established norms for mental health care providers on the MBI-HSS. Analyses of variance and backward regression analyses suggested that higher levels of burnout were associated with being younger, female, and overweight; working longer hours; having less experience; and experiencing a patient's death. Conversely, working in a private practice setting, having children, and having a personal history of an eating disorder were associated with lower burnout levels. Furthermore, over 45% of participants reported that treatment resistance, ego-syntonicity, high relapse rates, worry about patient survival, emotional drain, lack of appropriate financial reimbursement, and extra hours spent working contributed to feelings burned out somewhat to very much. Overall, these data suggest that emotional exhaustion is the most common aspect of burnout experienced by eating disorder treatment providers and highlight some of the key correlates of burnout for this population, which can be used to inform prevention and intervention efforts.

Although job burnout is common in mental health care settings, almost no research has examined burnout in eating disorder treatment providers. Using qualitative methodology, this study examined a) perceived contributors of burnout, b) efforts to manage burnout, and c) recommendations for avoiding burnout in a sample of professional eating disorder treatment providers. Recruited via professional organizations, 298 participants completed an online questionnaire designed by the authors. Qualitative responses were coded and grouped into themes. Results indicated that almost all participants worried about their patients' health, which frequently resulted in negative affect (e.g., anxiety, sadness). The most frequently cited contributors to burnout were common characteristics of eating pathology (e.g., chronicity, relapse, symptom severity); patient characteristics (e.g., personality conflict); work-related factors (e.g., time demands); and, financial issues (e.g., inadequate compensation). To avoid burnout, over 90% of participants engaged in self-care behaviors (e.g., exercise, social support). Early-career practitioners were encouraged to utilize supervision, create a work/life balance, engage in self-care, and limit caseloads. These results suggest that supervision and training of eating disorder treatment providers should include burnout management.

Using a sociocultural framework, this crosssectional study examined eating pathology among 235 Latino adolescents from the Southwestern U.S. who differed in generational status. Participants completed self-report measures of media pressures, internalization, social comparison, and eating pathology. Overall, results revealed stronger relationships between these sociocultural variables and eating pathology for girls. Girls reported greater social comparison, thin-ideal pressure and internalization, and eating pathology than boys. Generational status was positively correlated with these sociocultural variables and eating pathology for girls only. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses indicated that athletic-ideal internalization was a key predictor of eating pathology for girls but not boys. Discussion highlights gender, more than generational status, as critical to a sociocultural framework for eating pathology among adolescent Latino Americans.

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