The Relationship of Professional Burnout to Early Maladaptive Schemas in Emergency Psychologists

Abstract

Professional burnout is a very common syndrome that affects the well-being of people and the work of entire organizations. It is actively studied on various professional samples, especially on representatives of socionomic professions ("human-to-human"). Over the last decade, early maladaptive schemas (EMS) have been found to be associated with burnout. Despite active research, data on both burnout and EMS in extreme psychologists are lacking. The present study was conducted on this particular sample, which is intended to fill the existing gap. Thirty-six extreme psychologists participated in the study, most of the respondents worked in the emergency department or with hospice patients. The full versions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire adapted by N. Vodopyanova for socionomic professions, as well as J. Young’s questionnaire for early maladaptive schemes in the adaptation of P. Kasyanik and E. Romanova. Using correlation analysis, it was found that most EMS were related to burnout. After analyzing the data obtained during the empirical study, an additional hypothesis, and an alternative set of techniques to test it were proposed. The results of the study may be of practical importance for burnout prevention in psychologists of extreme profile.