Predictors of worklife burnout among mental health certified peer specialists.

Abstract

Certified peer specialists (CPSs) are a growing workforce that uses their lived experience of a behavioral health disorders plus skills learned in formal training to deliver support services. Despite their important role in the mental health care system and research on their working conditions, experiences of burnout have not been widely studied among CPSs. This study uses survey data from CPSs who were currently employed in any type of job, providing peer support services or not. Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS), along with other measures of personal and job characteristics, relationships of predictors variables to burnout measures were described in unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models. Scores on each of the averaged burnout measures differed significantly between those employed in peer services jobs and those in other job types, with those in peer services jobs reporting lower exhaustion, cynicism, and higher professional efficacy. Better workload and fairness were associated with significantly lower exhaustion, and better reward and community were both associated with significantly lower cynicism. Those employed in peer services jobs

Assessing Mental Healthcare Worker Experiences of Workplace Fairness and Organizational Value: A National Survey of Peer-Support Specialists

“…This study encourages organizations that hire peer-support specialists to consider and value the unique benefits offered by this class of employees to both patients and workplaces. Perceptions of fairness at the workplace are linked to individual, family, and organizational outcomes (Halvorsen et al, 2020; Ostrow et al, 2022), and qualitative research has indicated that peer-support specialists do not feel valued for the experiences and skills they bring to the role (Firmin et al, 2019). However, strategies by clinicians and administrators to increase peer-support specialists’ sense of value may benefit both the workforce and the workplace.…”

“…Perceptions of feeling valued at the workplace and fairness within the workplace can significantly impact individual (e.g., mental health, satisfaction with life) and organizational (e.g., sense of inclusion, turnover intention) outcomes; more so, these perceptions can differ by demographic groups, such as gender, race, and ethnicity, reflecting organizational and societal issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (Halvorsen et al, 2020). Given that the lack of feeling valued and a sense of unfairness at work is linked to negative personal and workplace outcomes for peer-support specialists (Firmin et al, 2019; Ostrow et al, 2022), it is important to understand the experiences of this understudied class of worker. In response, the aim of this study was to explore how attributes of fairness at the workplace are related to job satisfaction among peer-support specialists as well as their perception of being valued by fellow healthcare staff and service users.…”

“…Participants reported that these macroaggressions and microaggressions had a negative impact on their personal well-being, job satisfaction, and willingness to remain in the workplace, with these experiences also indicating to peer-support specialists that they are not valued at the workplace (Firmin et al, 2019). Less-perceived workplace fairness was also associated with more exhaustion among peer-support specialists (Ostrow et al, 2022).…”

Peer Academic Supports for Success (PASS) for College Students with Mental Illness: Open Trial

“…Internal consistency estimates of 0.85 and above are reported [ 79 , 80 ]. General self-efficacy was assessed using the total score on the General Self-Efficacy Scale, a 10-item scale scored on a 4-point scale with good internal consistency (0.75 < α < 0.91) [ 81 , 82 , 83 ].…”

Psychometric Validity of the Areas of Work Life Scale (AWS) in Teachers and Healthcare Workers in México

“…workers, and from a series of staff surveys conducted by authors as a means of assessing the constructs underlying the analysis of the six areas of work life [30]. AWS dimensions have demonstrated to be consistent predictors of burnout and important targets for prevention in different regions and sectors in recent studies [31][32][33], so the mediational model of burnout, which deals with a model extended to its predictors from the areas of work life, is a modern and promising line of research that needs to be further explored, especially in the post-pandemic times in different cultures [34,35].…”