This thesis examined the utility of Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2002) as a framework for understanding athlete burnout and its hypothesized opposite - athlete engagement. Athlete burnout was defined as "a psychological syndrome of emotional/physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation" (Raedeke, 1997, p.398). Athlete engagement was defined as a persistent, positive, cognitive-affective experience in sport that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and confidence. Based on the predictions of Vallerand�s (1997; Vallerand & Losier, 1999) motivational model, it was hypothesized that elite New Zealand athletes with higher perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness (i.e., basic psychological needs) would also report more self-determined motives to participate in sport and that individuals with higher self-determined motivation would experience lower athlete burnout and higher athlete engagement. Before testing these hypotheses four preliminary studies were necessary. First, because of the nomadic lifestyles of many elite athletes, it was decided that an online survey delivered via the Internet would be the most appropriate and effective method for collecting data to test the central hypotheses. However, a literature search revealed that no studies in sport psychology had compared online and traditional paper and pencil survey methods and therefore a preliminary study was needed to investigate potential survey format effects. Results of measurement invariance and latent mean structures analyses indicated that there were no differences on the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire for randomly assigned online (n=117) and paper and pencil (n=97) groups. Second, recent research (e.g., Martens & Webber, 2002; Riemer, Fink, & Fitzgerald, 2002) has indicated that the only published measure of behavioural regulations (i.e., motives) in sport (Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, & Blais, 1995) has psychometric problems. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a reliable and valid measure of behavioural regulations in sport. Following rigorous scale development procedures that included expert review and pilot testing, results from two studies (n=382 and n=343) supported the reliability and validity of this new measure - the Behavioural Regulations in Sport Questionnaire. Third, while researchers in organizational and educational psychology have examined engagement experiences, no research has investigated athlete engagement. Results of a qualitative inquiry with elite New Zealand athletes (n=15) indicated that vigour, dedication, and confidence were core athlete engagement dimensions. Fourth, items for a quantitative athlete engagement questionnaire were created using operational definitions from the qualitative study and then reviewed by athlete burnout and positive psychology experts. Analysis of data from two samples (n=382 and n=343) supported the reliability and validity of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire. Results from the final study (n=343) investigating the relationships amongst basic needs, behavioural regulations, burnout, and engagement generally supported the main hypotheses of the thesis. Indeed, athletes with higher perceptions of autonomy and competence reported more self-determined regulations; however, relatedness was not a significant predictor. Athletes� levels of self-determined motivation accounted for substantial portions of variance in athlete burnout symptoms: emotional/physical exhaustion (R�=.13), sport devaluation (R�=.43) and reduced accomplishment (R�=.42). Behavioural regulations were also strong predictors of athlete engagement, accounting for 49% of the variance in vigour, 42% of the variance in dedication, and 30% of the variance in confidence. Implications of these results for researchers and practitioners are discussed. Directions for research concerning SDT, athlete burnout, and athlete engagement are also highlighted.

This research shows that sense of community reduces the effect of job stress on burnout among a sample of 672 New Zealand nurses. Sense of community - a feeling that members matter to one another (and to the group) and a shared faith that members� needs will be met through their commitment to be together - consists of four elements: membership, integration and fulfilment of needs, influence and shared emotional connection. Results indicate that nurses have a moderate to high level of sense of community. Apart from the influence element, subscale reliabilities for the other three elements were acceptably high on the Nurse Sense of Community Index, an instrument that was developed for use in this study. In relation to occupational stress, the study results indicate that high workload, rather than any difference in the practice requirements of various types of nursing work is the most important factor contributing to nurses� job stress. Public hospital nurses experience significantly higher levels of perceived job stress than their private sector counterparts because high workloads and problems of recruiting and retaining nurses are more typical of the public sector. Nurses who work full-time experience more job stress than those who work part-time, and those in the 20 to 30 age group experience the highest frequency of perceived job stress. Burnout is a syndrome of high emotional exhaustion and high depersonalisation in the presence of a lack of personal accomplishment. Nurses who work full-time experience significantly higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation than those who work part-time. Accident and emergency nurses have the highest level of burnout and intensive care unit nurses the lowest level of burnout among public hospital nurses. Overall, the majority of nurses experience a low to moderate degree of burnout. Yet, a substantial proposition of the sample population acknowledge experiencing some aspect of burnout, and as has been found by other nursing studies, a nurse�s age influences burnout levels, with younger nurses experiencing more burnout than older nurses. A clear relationship between an increased frequency of perceived job stress and burnout was identified. Results suggest that nurses with a high level of sense of community have lower frequencies of perceived job stress, experience lower burnout than those with low and moderate levels of sense of community. Findings demonstrate that burnout remains a serious issue for nurses the nursing profession and, as the demands on professional workers increase, the health care sector. The theoretical and practical implications of the study�s findings for management practice are postulated in the conclusion of this thesis.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 1993. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 343-350).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71-80). Also available in print.

<p>Vi har valt att göra en kvalitativ studie om utbrändhet bland unga människor i åldrarna 19-25 år i Sverige. Syfte med denna studie är att få en inblick i och ökad förståelse över hur utbrändhet påverkar unga i Sverige. Vi ville belysa orsakerna till varför allt fler unga människor i Sverige drabbas av utmattningssyndrom. Vi utgick från ett hermeneutiskt synsätt och en narrativ metod. Under de senaste tio åren har den psykiska ohälsan och sjukskrivningsantalet i Sverige ökat och då framförallt bland ungdomar. Forskningen talar om ett nytt sjukdomsfenomen, utbrändhet. Det är en stressrelaterad sjukdom som framförallt handlar om en känslomässig utmattning. Varje människa kan uppleva stress men det är endast de som går in i arbetet med höga förväntningar och som arbetar hårt för att uppnå dessa förväntningar som kan bli utbrända. Intervjupersonenerna grundade sin självkänsla och identitet i sina arbetsprestationer. Vi tror att alla intervjupersonerna saknade en grundläggande självkänsla vilket gjorde att de hela tiden sökte bekräftelse utifrån sina prestationer. Om en person blir utbränd eller inte beror såväl på fysiologiska, biologiska som psykologiska faktorer. Risken är större för personer som redan har drabbats av utbrändhet att drabbas igen. Kraven och pressen som unga människor känner idag kan härstamma från både familjen och samhället. Dagens samhälle är uppbyggt på så sätt att vi hela tiden måste göra en massa val. Ingenting är längre som det var förr då allt och alla hade sin plats i samhället. Den ökade individualiseringen kanske inte alltid är positiv. I socialt arbete kan vi hjälpa till med att förebygga utbrändhet bland ungdomar genom att finnas ute i skola och andra miljöer där ungdomar vistas för att hjälpa dem in i vuxenlivet.</p>

<p>The aim of this essay is to investigate what is burnout and how women who are affected by it manage their condition. Furthermore, we have investigated stigma and whether or not those affected by burnout are in turn stigmatised.</p><p>A qualitative approach has been used to achieve our aims with this project. To support our analysis we have interviewed ten women who all have been diagnosed with fatigue syndrome along with studying relevant literature. The main theories used in this investigation are the symbolic interaktionism by G.H Mead, the term stigma by Erving Goffman and different theories on coping.</p><p>The results show that the majority of women in the study had suffered from burnout due to work related stress and changes in their working environment. How they coped with and recovered from the condition depended on their own activity and how it related to their own support system. Moreover, we can see how nature plays a significant part for many of the affected women to return to a healthy life. We can observe that both the term stigma and how it manifests itself is complex and difficult to define. The majority of the women in this study could not themselves define the term stigma.</p><p>We have discovered that women suffering from burnout experience major changes in their lives and that there is much to learn from these women about both life in general and a person’s working life. From a social worker’s point of view, it is imperative to acknowledge the risks of always meeting the needs of others and the importance of recovery and reflection.</p>

<p>The overarching purpose of the current thesis was to assess the long term effects of a treatment program involving flotation-REST for the experience of pain, from the point of view of variables connected with Melzack´s neuromatrix theory, and to examine the extent of a potential attention-placebo effect in connection with flotation-REST.</p><p>The first study (Paper I) aimed to investigate long-term effects of flotation-REST four months after treatment. Seventy patients participated, diagnosed as having stress-related pain. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or a flotation-REST group and participated in a total of twelve flotation REST or control sessions. Results indicated that pain areas, stress, anxiety and depression decreased, while sleep quality, optimism, and prolactin increased. Positive effects generally maintained four months after treatment. The second (Paper II) examined the potential effects of attention-placebo. Thirty-two patients who were diagnosed as having stress-related muscular pain were treated for a period of six weeks. Half of the patients were also given attention for a period of 12 weeks, while the remainder received attention for 6 weeks. Participants in both groups exhibited lowered blood pressure, reduced pain, anxiety, depression, stress, and negative affectivity, as well as increased optimism, energy, and positive affectivity. The third (Paper III) investigated whether or not 33 flotation sessions were more effective for stress related ailments as compared to 12 sessions. Participants were 37 patients with stress related ailments. Analyzes for subjective pain and psychological variables typically indicated that 12 sessions were enough to get considerably improvements and no further improvements were noticed after 33 sessions. Finally, the fourth study (Paper IV) aimed to examine whether and how the combination of therapy and flotation tank could be used to treat patients with severe stress problems. Two women on long-term sick-leave participated in the study, which was carried out over a period of one year. Four overarching themes were generated: the therapeutic work model, transformation of feelings, self-insight and meaning. These together constituted a “therapeutic circle” which after a while transformed in to a “therapeutic spiral” of increased meaning and enhanced wellbeing.</p><p>It was therefore concluded that flotation tank therapy is an effective method for the treatment of stress-related pain.</p>

The purpose of this dissertation study was to increase understanding of licensed mental health professionals' experiences as they have encountered and navigated through compassion fatigue (CF). CF is a complex construct with an attendant constellation of secondary stress responses. In order to examine the complex and varying factors associated with experiencing CF, the research was conducted using a grounded theory, qualitative approach and methodology. Nine licensed mental health professionals across the disciplines of marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, professional counseling, psychology, and social work were individually interviewed three times, for a total of at least 180 minutes. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. As a result of the analyses, four main categories emerged, experiencing internal dissonance, recognizing and processing the effects, becoming intentional, and creating ongoing changes. Becoming intentional is the central category because of its central and pivotal relationship to the whole process of participants' experience of encountering and navigating through CF. This fulcrum punctuates participants' experiences leading up to becoming intentional and those which came after as delineated in the other three categories of the theory. Prior to becoming intentional, participants experienced internal dissonance, which escalated to distress or crisis. When this distress or crisis reached a point where it became untenable, participants recognized and processed the effects. One of the effects which participants came to recognize was a loss of internal locus of control. Becoming intentional served as a catalyst for participants to take action and recapture their locus of control. The process of becoming intentional is reflected in three practices, transforming perceptions, developing support, and making professional changes. These findings are applicable to a variety of models of counseling, supervision, counselor education, and clinical practice in either a single or interdisciplinary setting. / Graduation date: 2013

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University Dept. of Marriage and Family Therapy, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-64).

Thesis (D.Clin.Psych) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.