Psychology, health & medicine
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Burnout is an inherent risk for those working as mental health professionals, given the nature of their work. Due to recent Medicare changes in Australia, private practice psychologists were suspected to face similar burnout risks as non-private practitioners. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships among burnout in Australian psychologists, work-setting and years of experience in that setting, mindfulness and career-sustaining behaviours (CSBs). 145 Females and 22 male Australian registered psychologists, with a mean age of 42.47 years (SD = 11.64, range 24-68), were surveyed to determine work-setting, mindfulness, burnout and preferences for CSBs. ⋯ CSB preferences only had weak relationships with burnout, which decreased after controlling for mindfulness. Several CSBs that had a detrimental relationship with burnout were identified and may be worthy of further investigation. Developing strategies to increase mindfulness may prevent burnout in Australian psychologists.
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This study assessed the extent to which being predisposed towards engaging in acts of gratitude and forgiveness is associated with enhanced quality of life (QoL), and whether these associations are mediated by positive and negative affective states. The study sample comprised 327 people with one of three chronic illnesses (arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes). Participants completed self-report measures of two positive predispositions (the tendencies towards gratitude and forgiveness), two affective states (positive and negative) and three indices of QoL (physical, psychological and satisfaction with life). ⋯ Findings support the view that predispositions towards interpersonal gratitude, and possibly interpersonal forgiveness, may bolster the QoL of people living with chronic physical illness. Consistent with contemporary theories of positive emotion, gratitude appears to have its effects via enhancing positive affect. The study adds to the emerging evidence that a predisposition towards gratitude benefits QoL and extends past findings by identifying a mechanism that is important in people with chronic illnesses.