Burnout Factors for Pediatric Psychologists Across Career Stages

Given the prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals and the drastic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health services, the primary objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of burnout for pediatric psychologists in clinical practice. Additional objectives included identifying personal and systemic factors associated with burnout and comparing burnout factors between early-career (ECP) and mid-/senior-career pediatric psychologists. Participants included 92 active members of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 54-Society of Pediatric Psychology. Participants completed a survey assessing demographic and professional characteristics and the Affectivity and Burnout Scales (Iverson et al., 1998). In the overall sample, lower positive affectivity, social support, autonomy, higher negative affectivity, and role stress contributed to higher burnout. Among ECPs, younger age, greater non-clinical responsibilities, and higher total hours worked contributed to greater emotional exhaustion in addition to the shared factors affecting burnout. Mid-/senior-career psychologists experienced greater emotional exhaustion compared to ECPs. Affectivity, social support, autonomy, role stress, and burnout contributed to job satisfaction across all career stages. Interventions for decreasing burnout and increasing job satisfaction should target job-related, social, and intrapersonal factors, and be individualized to unique needs of psychologists at different career stages.