Job stress, coping strategies, and burnout among abuse-specific counselors

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether effective coping strategies play an important role to reduce burnout levels among sexual or substance abuse counselors. The authors examined whether coping strategies mediated or moderated relations between job stress and burnout in a sample of 232 abuse-specific counselors. Results indicated that self-distraction and behavior disengagement coping strategies mediated the relationships between 3 job stress variables (workload, role conflict, and job ambiguity) and burnout. Although venting and humor coping strategies positively moderated the relationship between role ambiguity and burnout, active coping strategies negatively moderated the relationship between workload and burnout.