How Gratitude Relates to Burnout and Job Satisfaction in Mental Health Professionals

Abstract

This study investigated how gratitude relates to burnout and job satisfaction in mental health professionals. Sixty-five mental health professionals (counselors, case managers, clinical administrators/supervisors, employment/housing specialists, social workers, psychologists) completed questionnaires assessing demographics, job context variables, hope, gratitude, burnout, and job satisfaction. Consistent with hypotheses, workplace-specific gratitude predicted emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and job satisfaction after controlling for demographic/job contextual variables, hope, and dispositional gratitude. In addition, dispositional gratitude predicted personal accomplishment after controlling for demographic/job contextual variables but not after controlling for hope. Implications for counselors and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Factors influencing well‐being in clinical nurses: A path analysis using a multi‐mediation model

“…These findings are similar to those of a previous study that found burnout and compassion satisfaction mediated the relationship between personal characteristics and job satisfaction (Kim et al, ). The findings are also consistent with previous studies showing that resilience is related to burnout and compassion satisfaction (Rushton et al, ), and gratitude disposition to burnout (Lanham et al, ).…”

“…Gratitude disposition is related to burnout and job satisfaction (Lanham et al, 2012) in addition to well-being (McCullough et al, 2002). Although studies on gratitude disposition in nurses are scarce, it has been related to job satisfaction and well-being in clinical nurses (Chong et al, 2017;Jun et al, 2015).…”

“…People with a grateful disposition may be expected to feel gratitude for their job, health and life itself, along with a variety of other benefits (McCullough et al, ). Gratitude disposition is related to burnout and job satisfaction (Lanham et al, ) in addition to well‐being (McCullough et al, ). Although studies on gratitude disposition in nurses are scarce, it has been related to job satisfaction and well‐being in clinical nurses (Chong et al, ; Jun et al, ).…”

“…Recently, an increasing number of studies have begun to address the relation of nurses' job satisfaction and well-being with the personal characteristics of resilience and gratitude disposition (Chong, Ko, & Kim, 2017;Jun, Lee, & Lee, 2015;Yu, Raphael, Mackay, Smith, & King, 2019) and the work-related characteristics of burnout and compassion satisfaction (Kim & Yeom, 2018;Kim et al, 2017). Personal characteristics such as resilience and gratitude have also been related to work-related characteristics such as burnout and compassion satisfaction (Lanham, Rye, Rimsky, & Weill, 2012;Yu et al, 2019).…”

Relationship between environmental factors and burnout of psychotherapists: Meta‐analytic approach

“…Caseload and income also showed both negative and positive relationships with burnout, but the strength of the relationships was weak, usually ranging from −0.20 to 0.09 (Acker, ; Wallace, Lee, & Lee, ; Wilkerson, ). Negative clientele consistently showed a positive relationship with burnout, but this result was also unreliable because some studies (Lanham et al, ) showed very weak correlations while others (Craig & Sprang, ; Thompson et al, ) showed very strong correlations with burnout symptoms.…”