Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Kimberly Rynearson

Abstract

Researchers have found an increasing number of students with mental health issues, and

school counselors are often the first resource available to students. School counselors are

faced with many job duties including supporting students’ academic, career, and

emotional needs. Maintaining these duties of school counseling can increase stress and

lead to burnout. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine mental health

needs, mental health knowledge, and mental health skills as predictors of each of the

three subscales of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal

accomplishment) among early, middle, and late career school counselors. Lazarus and

Folkman’s transactional theory of stress and coping and Maslach’s burnout theory guided

the research questions. A quantitative research design was used with participants who

were professional school counselors and members of the American School Counselor

Association. A convenience sampling method was used to obtain a sample of 131

participants. Participation was voluntary and surveys were administered online for those

who participated. The participants completed 2 instruments: the Mental Health Needs

and Practices Survey and the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Educators Survey. Multiple

regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated mental health

needs, knowledge, and skills, both individually and in linear combination, were not

associated with the 3 subscales of burnout among early, middle, and late career school

counselors. The findings may lead to social change by raising awareness of student

mental health needs in schools and thereby prevent burnout among school counselors.

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