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...differences coping styles found, and an association between burnout and escape-avoidance behavior was identified for both female and male respondents.
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Burnout has been defined traditionally as a syndrome of physical, emotional, and cognitive exhaustion that develops from sustained interaction in situations that are emotionally demanding (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). Considerable empirical and theoretical data have revealed specific markers for burnout, such as feelings of emotional exhaustion or overextension, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (e.g., Goddard & Patton, 1998; Maslach et al., 1996).
Although recent attempts have been made to extend definitions of burnout to occupations that are characterized by little or no contact with others (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001), to assess the impact of one's relationship with work rather than relationships at work (Maslach et al., 1996), research involving human service occupations continues to dominate the literature. Service occupations are considered particularly vulnerable given their orientation toward people and toward helping (Burke, Greenglass, & Schwarzer, 1996; Goddard, Patton, & Creed, 2001; Maslach et al., 1996; Moore & Cooper, 1996; Thomsen, Soares, Nolan, Dallender, & Ametz, 1999), where employees' skills become the technology (Burke et al., 1996). Human service professionals commonly share close emotional experiences with clients in an attempt to manage or alleviate personal issues (Burke et al., 1996; Etzion & Pines, 1986; Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which can be emotionally demanding (Maslach et al., 1996; Moore & Cooper, 1996). Additional challenges for human service employees include the existence of employers' and clients' often unrealistic expectations (Shinn, Rosario, Morch, & Chestnut, 1984; Um & Harrison, 1998) including, for example, the attainment of client change in the absence of client cooperation and/or in unrealistically short time frames. Furthermore, as employees, human service professionals are also expected to maintain robust interpersonal relationships with their coworkers (Maslach et al., 1996).
The consequences of such work demands in a significant proportion of human service workers has been reported to be an increasingly negative attitude toward client concerns, depletion of emotional resources, and dissatisfaction with oneself both personally and professionally (Maslach & Jackson, 1986). To date, research on the well being of human service professionals provides overwhelming evidence for this conclusion, citing significant levels of burnout among teachers (Burke et al., 1996; Greenglass, Burke, & Ondrack, 1990), social workers and counselors (Burke et al., 1996), psychologists (Kramen-Kahn & Hansen, 1998), employees in nursing homes or similar facilities (Shaddock, Hill, & van Limbeek, 1998), nurses (Leiter & Maslach, 1988; Thomsen et al., 1999), and psychiatrists (Thomsen et al., 1999). Burnout levels have also been found to exceed those of employees in other occupational groups, including administration (Burke et al., 1996).
BURNOUT IN EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CASE MANAGERS
Studies of Australian employment service case managers have recently extended findings of burnout in human service professionals to those who counsel individuals who are unemployed. Respondents in a study by Patton and Goddard (2003) reported high levels of emotional exhaustion. Low levels of personal accomplishment and a marginal trend toward greater emotional exhaustion were also noted among administrative service officers within the now defunct Commonwealth Employment Service, a federal agency responsible for coordinating and supporting the efforts of job seekers in Australia (Goddard & Patton, 1998). This finding was particularly evident among employees who served in a case management function, as compared with employees who worked directly with but were not responsible for unemployed clients (Goddard & Patton, 1998). Levels of general health and well-being of employment service case managers have also been found to be poor (Patton & Goddard, 2003), particularly when compared with employees in other roles. These levels of health have been found to approximate the general health of unemployed individuals (Goddard et al., 2001). This research comprises some of the first evidence of burnout in employees who work with the unemployed (Goddard & Patton, 1998), despite calls almost 2 decades ago (Kelvin & Jarrett, 1985) for greater investigation of this occupational area.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BURNOUT
Numerous studies have reported greater burnout (Etzion & Pines, 1986; Griffith, Steptoe, & Cropley, 1999), stress (Ptacek, Smith, & Zanas, 1992) and work exhaustion in women (Thomsen et al., 1999), who are generally also noted to have poorer health than men (Jich & Mitz, 1985; Ptacek, Smith,...
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