Adaptation and Validation of a Burnout Inventory in a Survey of the Staff of a Correctional Institution in Bulgaria

Abstract

Background: Burnout syndrome is a phenomenon that seems to be studied globally in relation to all types of populations. The staff in the system of correctional institutions in Bulgaria, however, is oddly left out of this tendency. There is no standardized model in Bulgaria that can be used to detect possible susceptibility to professional burnout. The methods available at present only register the irreversible changes that have already set in the functioning of the individual. V. Boyko’s method for burnout assessment allows clinicians to use individual approach to patients and affords easy comparability of results with data from other psychodiagnostic instruments. Adaptation of the assessment instruments to fit the specificities of a study population (linguistic, ethno-cultural, etc.) is obligatory so that the instrument could be correctly used and yield valid results. Validation is one of the most frequently used technique to achieve this.

Keywords

• burnout syndrome
• questionnaires
• prison staff
• validity and reliability