Coping styles and empathy in professional burnout: A study of physical therapists

Abstract The profession of a physical therapist is among so-called social professions, which are particularly exposed to high risks of burnout. Our paper analyzes the relationships between professional burnout in physical therapists and their perceived levels of stress, the strategies they use to cope with stress, as well as their levels of empathy and professional satisfaction. The following questionnaires were used in the study: the Burnout Scale Inventory (Okła & Steuden, 1998); the multidimensional coping inventory COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989); and the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972). Varying levels of professional burnout were observed in a sample of 76 physical therapists, who demonstrated no significant relationships between burnout and empathy levels. Higher burnout levels were found in participants working in public compared to privately-owned health centers, while those scoring higher on job satisfaction also had lower burnout results. Further, participants with higher professional burnout also reported higher levels of stress at the workplace and at home, as well as using avoidance coping strategies. The results of our study call for further investigation into the determinants of burnout in physical therapists and for implementing preventive measures.