Abstract
Job burnout is a condition that interferes significantly with quality of life and is related to stressful working environments, organizational climate, and client outcomes. The introduction of burnout prevention and “Helping the Helper” programs may produce significant benefits with respect to this issue. In this study, we assessed a weekly online “Helping the Helper” intervention based on the behavioral principles of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) to improve social relationships, reduce burnout, and improve organizational climate and quality of life in mental health professionals. Six therapists of the Borderline Personality Disorder Clinic of Mexico’s National Institute of Psychiatry participated in this study. Subjects answered three questionnaires (Maslach Burnout Inventory, Multidimensional Scale of Organizational Climate, and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF) at seven time points throughout the duration of the study. The intervention was implemented between time points three and five. Robust Improvement Rate Difference (R-IRD) scores were computed for each subject to assess for the intervention’s efficacy. Results suggest preliminary support for the possibility of a “Helping the Helper” intervention based on FAP for reducing burnout and improving organizational climate among colleagues in a high-stress, public mental health setting.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarons, G. A., & Sawitzky, A. C. (2006). Organizational climate partially mediates the effect of culture on work attitudes and staff turnover in mental health services. Administration & Policy in Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research, 33(3), 289–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-006-0039-1.
Aarons, G. A., Woodbridge, M., & Carmazzi, A. (2003). Examining leadership, organizational climate and service quality in a children’s system of care. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Research Conference. A System of Care for Children’s Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base, Tampa, FL.
Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, D., & Bator, R. J. (1997). The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 23(4), 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167297234003.
Charter, R. A. (1999). Sample size requirements for precise estimates of reliability, generalizability, and validity coefficients. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 21(4), 559–566. https://doi.org/10.1076/jcen.21.4.559.889.
Cordova, J. V., & Scott, R. L. (2001). Intimacy: A behavioral interpretation. The Behavior Analyst, 24(1), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03392020.
Glisson, C., & Hemmelgarn, A. (1998). The effects of organizational climate and interorganizational coordination on the quality and outcomes of children’s service systems. Child Abuse & Neglect, 22(5), 401–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(98)00005-2.
Haworth, K., Kanter, J. W., Tsai, M., Kuczynski, A. M., Rae, J. R., & Kohlenberg, R. J. (2015). Reinforcement matters: A preliminary, laboratory-based component-process analysis of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy’s model of social connection. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 4(4), 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2015.08.003.
Hernández, C., Llorens, S., & Rodríguez, A. (2011). Burnout en personal sanitario: Validación de la escala MBI en México. Fórum de Recerca, 16(1), 837–846.
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review. PLoS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316.
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241(4865), 540–545. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3399889.
Juárez-García, A., Idrovo, Á. J., Camacho-Ávila, A., & Placencia-Reyes, O. (2014). Síndrome de burnout en población mexicano: Una revisión sistemática. Salud Mental, 37(2), 159–176. https://doi.org/10.17711/sm.0185-3325.2014.020.
Kanter, J. W., Manbeck, K., Kuczynski, A. M., Maitland, D. W. M., Villas-Bôas, A., & Reyes, M. (2017). A comprehensive review of research on Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. Clinical Psychology Review, 58, 141–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.010.
Kanter, J. W., Tsai, M., Holman, G., & Koerner, K. (2013). Preliminary data from a randomized pilot study of web-based functional analytic psychotherapy therapist training. Psychotherapy, 50(2), 248–255. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029814.
Keng, S.-L., Waddington, E., Lin, B. X. T., Tan, M. S. Q., Henn-Haase, C., & Kanter, J. W. (2017). Effects of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy on therapist trainees in Singapore: A randomized controlled trial. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 24(4), 1014–1027. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2064.
Khanna, M. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2015). Bringing technology to training: Web-based therapist training to promote the development of competent cognitive-behavioral therapists. Cognitive & Behavioral Practice, 22(3), 291–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2015.02.002.
Kohlenverg, R. J., & Tsai, M. (1991). Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: Creating intense and curative therapeutic relationships. New York: Plenum Press.
Laurenceau, J., Barrett, L. F., & Pietromonaco, P. R. (1998). Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 74(5), 1238–1251. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1238.
Laurenceau, J., Barrett, L. F., & Rovine, M. J. (2005). The interpersonal process model of intimacy in marriage: A daily-diary and multilevel modeling approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 19(2), 314–323. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.19.2.314.
Leiter, M. P., Day, A., & Price, L. (2015). Attachment styles at work: Measurement, collegial relationships, and burnout. Burnout Research, 2(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burn.2015.02.003.
Leiter, M. P., Nicholson, R., Patterson, A., & Laschinger, H. K. S. (2012). Incivility, burnout, and work engagement. Ciencia & Trabajo, 14, 22–29.
Maitland, D. W. M., Kanter, J. W., Manbeck, K. M., & Kuczynski, A. M. (2017). Relationship-science informed clinically relevant behaviors in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: The awareness, courage, and love model. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6(4), 347–359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.07.002.
Maitland, D. W. M., Kanter, J. W., Tsai, M., Kuczynski, A. M., Manbeck, K. M., & Kohlenberg, R. J. (2016). Preliminary findings on the effects of online Functional Analytic Psychotherapy training on therapist competency. Psychological Record, 66(4), 627–637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0198-8.
Manne, S., Ostroff, J., Rini, C., Fox, K., Goldstein, L., & Grana, G. (2004). The interpersonal process model of intimacy: The role of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and partner responsiveness in interactions between breast cancer patients and their partners. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 589–599.
Maricuţoiu, L. P., Sava, F. A., & Butta, O. (2016). The effectiveness of controlled interventions on employees’ burnout: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 89(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12099.
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., & Leiter, M. P. (1996). Maslach burnout inventory manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397.
Morse, G., Salyers, M. P., Rollins, A. L., Monroe-DeVita, M., & Pfahler, C. (2012). Burnout in mental health services: A review of the problem and its remediation. Administration & Policy in Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research, 39(5), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0352-1.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Parker, R. I., Vannest, K. J., & Brown, L. (2009). The Improvement Rate Difference for single-case research. Council for Exceptional Children, 75(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290907500201.
Parker, R. I., Vannest, K. J., & Davis, J. L. (2011). Effect size in single-case research: A review of nine nonoverlap techniques. Behavior Modification, 35(4), 303–322. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445511399147.
Patlán Pérez, J., & Flores Herrera, R. (2013). Desarrollo y Validación de la Escala Multidimensional de Clima Organizacional (EMCO): Un Estudio Empírico con Profesionales de la Salud. Ciencia & Trabajo, 15(48), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-24492013000300005.
Reis, H. T., & Shaver, P. (1988). Intimacy as an interpersonal process. In S. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships: Theory, research & interventions (pp. 367–389). Chichester: Wiley.
Salyers, M. P., Flanagan, M. E., Firmin, R., & Rollins, A. L. (2015). Clinicians’ perceptions of how burnout affects their work. Psychiatric Services, 66(2), 204–207. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201400138.
Schoenwald, S. K., Sheidow, A. J., Letourneau, E. J., & Liao, J. G. (2003). Transportability of multisystemic therapy: Evidence for multilevel influences. Mental Health Services Research, 5(4), 223–239. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026229102151.
Tsai, M., Kohlenberg, R. J., Kanter, J. W., Kohlenberg, B., Follette, W. C., & Callaghan, G. M. (2009). A Guide to Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: Awareness, Courage, Love, and Behaviorism. New York: Springer.
WHOQOL Group. (1998). Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychology & Medicine, 28(3), 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291798006667.
Yurdugül, H. (2008). Minimum sample size for Cronbach’s coefficient alpha: A Monte Carlo study. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 35, 397–405.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reyes Ortega, M.A., Kuczynski, A.M., Kanter, J.W. et al. A Preliminary Test of a Social Connectedness Burnout Intervention for Mexican Mental Health Professionals. Psychol Rec 69, 267–276 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-019-00338-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-019-00338-5