• Hemma Swoboda, Ingrid Sibitz, Stefan Frühwald, Günther Klug, Belinda Bauer, and Stefan Priebe.
• Abteilung für Sozialpsychiatrie und Evaluationsforschung, Universitätsklinik für Psychiatrie, Universität Wien. hemma.swoboda@meduniwien.ac.at
• Psychiatr Prax. 2005 Nov 1; 32 (8): 386-92.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore job satisfaction, professional role and burnout among community mental health staff in Austria.MethodsThe Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, the GHQ-12, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and a questionnaire exploring staff's professional role and team identity were administered to 195 community-based mental health professionals in two Austrian regions. Staff's job perception was assessed in open questions. Predictors of burnout scores were identified in multivariate analyses.ResultsWhile the mental health professionals had elevated scores on the GHQ-12, their levels on the three burnout subscales were low. Social workers and psychologists showed the lowest job satisfaction, social workers also had low role identity scores. Being in the current job for a short time and disposing of psychosocial skills were predictors of high job satisfaction. High burnout scores were predicted by the lack of basic psychosocial competence and a lack of general knowledge in mental health care. The effect of caseload on psychological well-being was positive as well as negative.ConclusionsEven if the mental health professionals in our study show high levels of general stress, they seem to have less emotional problems resulting from extensively dealing with troubled individuals. Improving basic psychosocial competence and general expertise in mental health care might have a protective effect against developing a burnout syndrome.

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