The Relationship Between Burnout and Psychological Flexibility Processes in Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Healthcare professionals have been the most studied professional organization since the concept of professional burnout first emerged. Working conditions stand out as the factor that most affects burnout in the studies conducted at the health sector, which is one of the professions where humanitarian contact is the most intense. In our study, the relationships of psychological factors and sociodemographic factors with burnout parameters were examined. The research was conducted between May 2018 and September 2018, with 226 participants working in Istanbul who completing the scales properly. A sociodemographic form to determine the characteristics of the work environment together with personal factors such as age and gender, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) to evaluate psychological flexibility processes, Self-as-Context Scale (SAC), and Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) to evaluate one's attitude to value areas was used as data collection tools. As a result of the evaluation of the data, it was observed that the young age, the number of patients cared for and the number of monthly seizures were associated with an increase in burnout and having a child was associated with a decrease in burnout level. In correlation analysis, it was shown that the relationship between burnout parameters and psychological flexibility processes was stronger than their relationship with sociodemographic variables. As a result of the regression analysis, it was observed that the most powerful predictor of burnout was experiential avoidance. It was calculated that high self-as-contex and value-oriented attitude towards life significantly predicted personal fulfillment perception. As a result, it was observed that psychological flexibility variables had a stronger predictive effect on burnout compared to sociodemographic characteristics. The results of the study show that interventions that will increase the psychological flexibility of healthcare professionals as well as improving their working conditions will be valuable.