The Relationship Between Spiritual Well-Being and Burnout in Collegiate Athletic Trainers

Context: Spiritual well-being is the expression of one's spirituality as measured in the dimensions of existential and religious well-being. The Smith Cognitive Affective Model of Athletic Burnout suggests that personality factors such as spiritual well-being and the use of religious coping methods may affect burnout as well as its causes and outcomes. This has not been examined in collegiate athletic trainers (ATs). Objective: To investigate the relationship between spiritual well-being and burnout in collegiate ATs. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Web-based survey. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 783 certified ATs employed full time in the collegiate setting participated. Part-time employees (eg, graduate assistants, interns) were excluded. Main Outcome Measure(s): A 100-item online questionnaire was created for this study. It used items from previously developed scales, including the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, the Brief RCOPE, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and substanceuse questions from the Monitoring the Future study. Participants were able to complete the survey in approximately 10-15 minutes. Multiple regression analyses were used to analyze survey data. We mapped all independent (existential well-being, religious well-being, positive and negative religious coping) and dependent variables (situational variables, Maslach Burnout Inventory burnout subscales, substance use, and intention to leave) onto the Smith Cognitive-Affective Model of Athletic Burnout to determine which variables altered burnout levels, substance use, and intention to leave. Tests of mediation or moderation were conducted when appropriate. Results: Existential well-being was a significant positive predictor of social support and a significant negative predictor of work-family conflict, decreased sense of personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, intention to leave the profession, and binge drinking. Existential well-being also served as a mediator or moderator in several components of the model. Conclusions: Existential well-being was a protective factor against burnout as well as some of the causes and effects of burnout in collegiate ATs.