| Work-related burnout, although connected to many negative outcomes (Kahill, 1988), has not been thoroughly studied in the graduate student population. The goal of the present study was to examine burnout and vigor among clinical and counseling psychology doctoral students. Based on conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993; Hobfoll & Shirom, 2001), five variables were selected as predictors of burnout and vigor: two types of general work-related stress (i.e., pressure and threat; Stanton et al., 2001), the supervisory working alliance, financial strain, and conflict with others in the workplace. Seven hypotheses were tested about the expected relation between burnout and vigor, the ability of the predictor variables to explain at least 19% of the variance in burnout and vigor, and the direction of the relations between the predictor variables, burnout, and vigor. Additionally, the degree of burnout and vigor among clinical and counseling psychology doctoral students was investigated for descriptive purposes.;The majority of the sample of 203 clinical and counseling psychology doctoral students described experiencing burnout (74.9%) and vigor (76.8%) at some point during their time as doctoral students, and normative comparison tests indicated more reported burnout and less reported vigor than a comparison sample (Shirom, 2008a, 2008b). The negative correlation between burnout and vigor was large (r = -.71, p < .001) suggesting that although the variables are distinct, they may not be relatively independent as previously theorized (Shirom, 2003a).;A multivariate multiple regression was used to assess the relation of the predictor variables to self-reported burnout and vigor. The predictors explained 22% of the variance in the multivariate construct of burnout and vigor. Follow-up analyses indicated that controlling for the effects of each of the other predictor variables, self-reported supervisory working alliance and work-related threat were significant predictors of burnout and vigor. The supervisory working alliance was inversely related to burnout and directly related to vigor, whereas threat was directly related to burnout and inversely related to vigor. Results are discussed for their theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and suggested future research. |
