Self-Care Strategies and Job-Crafting Practices Among Behavior Analysts: Do They Predict Perceptions of Work-Life Balance, Work Engagement, and Burnout?

Abstract

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) practitioners report high levels of burnout, exhibited as exhaustion and disengagement. Turnover, a stressful and costly experience for individual practitioners and the human service organizations that employ them, is a potential consequence of burnout. Work-life balance and work engagement are associated with lower burnout and lower intention to quit. Research concerning behavioral predictors of work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout-all of which are associated with turnover intentions-among ABA service providers is scant. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore whether and how the use of self-care strategies and job-crafting practices influences perceived levels of work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout among ABA practitioners who work in human service settings. In a sample of 826 ABA practitioners, 72% reported medium to high levels of burnout. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the use of both self-care strategies and job-crafting practices strongly predicted work-life balance, work engagement, and burnout above and beyond sociodemographic variables (gender and years of experience). Findings can inform the development of effective organizational/systems- and individual-level self-care and job-crafting interventions that support sustainable individual, organizational, and client-related outcomes. We contend that self-care and job-crafting interventions support a culture of well-being in graduate programs, training/supervision curricula, and mentor-mentee relationships.