Research Methods and Statistics

Featured Research

School Counselors’ Perceived Stress, Burnout, and Job Satisfaction

Patrick R. Mullen 1 , Ashley J. Blount

2 , Glenn W. Lambie

3 ,

and Nancy Chae 1

Abstract We examined the relationship between perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction among school counselors. Results indi- cated that school counselors’ perceived stress and burnout were negatively related to their age and experience. Respondents also reported that stress, burnout, and job satisfaction did not differ based on their school level. Participants’ perceived stress and burnout had a strong negative correlation with job satisfaction; however, burnout mediated the relationship between perceived stress and job satisfaction. We discuss the findings in light of training and supervision.

Keywords burnout, job satisfaction, school counselor, stress

School counselors are expected to provide effective services to

their students, promoting their social/emotional, academic, and

career development (American School Counselor Association

[ASCA], 2012); however, their jobs can be stressful and have

poorly defined requirements (Mathews, 2012; Young &

Lambie, 2007). School counselors have multiple professional

duties, including the provision of both direct services, such as

individual counseling, and indirect services, such as program

management (ASCA, 2012). At times, job demands require

that school counselors perform activities that are unrelated to

school counseling or the school counseling profession

(Bardhoshi, Schweinle, & Duncan, 2014; Scarborough &

Culbreth, 2008).

Novice school counselors may feel ambivalent about their

jobs because of discrepancies between their graduate school

training and their actual practice as school counselors

(Goodman-Scott, 2015). Due to inconsistencies between job

expectations and school counseling practice, school counselors

could suffer from stress and burnout, which could negatively

influence their job satisfaction (Bardhoshi et al., 2014; Math-

ews, 2012; Young & Lambie, 2007).

School counselors can face multiple and competing

demands, leading to symptoms of stress, empathy fatigue, emo-

tional exhaustion, counselor impairment, and eventual depar-

ture or resignation from their jobs (Maslach, 2003; Mullen &

Crowe, 2017; Stebnicki, 2008). School counseling consistently

requires empathy and compassion for students in emotionally

challenging situations (Lawson, Venart, Hazler, & Kottler,

2007; Stebnicki, 2008; Young & Lambie, 2007). Simultane-

ously, school counselors are expected to deliver career

education modules in the classroom, consult with parents and

teachers, and attend to administrative tasks such as lunch duty.

School counselors may become stressed, exhausted, and even-

tually burned out by attempting to balance their various pro-

fessional requirements. Authors have noted that the

experiences of burnout can lead to a severe diminishment of

school counselors’ abilities to deliver adequate services to stu-

dents and their families (Maslach, 2003; Mullen & Gutierrez,

2016; Stebnicki, 2008).

School counselors can face multiple and competing

demands, leading to symptoms of stress, empathy

fatigue, emotional exhaustion, counselor

impairment, and eventual departure or resignation

from their jobs.

Although limited school counseling literature exists regard-

ing counselors’ stress, burnout, and job satisfaction, no empiri-

cal research has examined relationships among these variables.

1 Department of School Psychology and Counselor Education, College of

William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA 2

Department of Counseling, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA 3 Department of Child, Family, and Community Sciences, University of Central

Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Patrick R. Mullen, PhD, Department of School Psychology and Counselor

Education, College of William and Mary, PO Box 8795, Williamsburg,

VA 23187, USA.

Email: [email protected]

Professional School Counseling Volume 21(1): 1-10

ª 2018 American School Counselor Association

Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/2156759X18782468 journals.sagepub.com/home/pcx

Therefore, we extend the school counseling literature with this

study by analyzing data from a national sample of practicing

school counselors to better understand the relationship between

perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction.

School Counselors’ Stress and Burnout

A common view of stress is that it is “a particular relationship

between the person and the environment that is appraised by

the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and

endangering his or her well-being” (Lazarus & Folkman,

1984, p. 19). According to Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) stress

and coping framework, stress results from the disparity

between the demands placed upon individuals and their

resources to cope with the demands. For example, school coun-

selors who experienced greater perceived stress also reported

more demands at work compared to school counselors who

perceived less stress, such as additional paperwork, larger case-

loads, and coordination of school-wide testing (McCarthy,

Kerne, Calfa, Lambert, & Guzmán, 2010). Furthermore,

researchers have found that increased stress is associated with

decreased job satisfaction among school counselors (e.g., Bag-

gerly & Osborn, 2006; Rayle, 2006).

Burnout is defined as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion,

depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that

can occur among individuals who work with other people in

some capacity” (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996, p. 4).

In other words, burnout is the physical or emotional hardship

that develops as a result of helping others (Maslach, 2003;

Maslach et al., 1996). Burnout was first conceptualized as

arising from behavioral, cognitive, and emotional factors that

are common among individuals in the helping professions

(Freudenberger, 1974; Maslach, 1976). Counselors who expe-

rienced burnout exhibit negative self-concepts, impaired job

attitudes, a devaluing of clients, and personal discouragement

(Lee et al., 2007; Pines & Maslach, 1978). In one study, Mullen

and Gutierrez (2016) found that school counselors who expe-

rienced greater burnout reported providing fewer direct student

services (i.e., individual counseling). In another recent study,

Limberg, Lambie, and Robinson (2017) found that school

counselors who were more altruistic experienced less burnout.

Furthermore, burnout has been found to be negatively associ-

ated with job satisfaction in disciplines related to school coun-

seling (e.g., student affairs, counselor education; Mullen,

Malone, Denney, & Dietz, 2018; Sangganjanavanich & Balkin,

2013) and to be positively related to turnover intentions

(Mullen et al., 2018). However, researchers have examined

neither the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction

within a sample of school counselors nor relationships among

school counselors’ age, school level (i.e., grade level in the

schools in which they serve), and feelings of burnout.

Burnout has been conceptualized, in part, as stemming from

unremitting stress that occasionally escalates into crisis (Freu-

denberger, 1974, 1986; Maslach, 2003). Burnout also may be

the result of secondary experiencing of traumatic events

(Figley, 2002; Stamm, 2010) or may be, among school coun-

selors, due to the ongoing empathetic position they hold with

their students (Maslach, 2003; Stebnicki, 2008). Recent

research findings have identified a unique relationship between

stress and burnout. In a study of school counselors, Mullen and

Gutierrez (2016) found that both stress and burnout had a sig-

nificant negative correlation with their reported percentage of

time in direct service to students, frequency of counseling ser-

vices, and frequency of school counseling classroom activities.

However, when Mullen and Gutierrez used a path model to

explore the simultaneous contribution of stress and burnout

to the provision of direct student services, burnout continued

to have a negative relationship, whereas stress no longer had a

significant relationship. Although these findings need to be

replicated and further explored, they suggest that burnout med-

iates, or explains, the relationship between stress and the deliv-

ery of direct student services; however, no study has examined

whether burnout mediates stress and job satisfaction among

school counselors.

School Counselors’ Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is often defined as the affective response (e.g.,

sense of fulfillment and gratification) that individuals have

toward their jobs based on a range of occupation-related ele-

ments (i.e., schedule, compensation, and work difficulty;

Fields, 2002; Locke, 1969; Spector, 1997). Job satisfaction is

also described as the extent to which a person likes or dislikes

their job (Spector, 1997). Traditionally, research examining

school counselors’ job satisfaction has focused on their rela-

tionships with their principals and their job duties. DeMato and

Curcio (2004) proposed that support from school administra-

tors would lead to school counselors’ enhanced job satisfac-

tion; however, they did not examine this hypothesis

empirically. Rayle (2006) found that a sense of mattering to

others was positively correlated with job satisfaction and nega-

tively correlated with job stress. Furthermore, when school

counselors completed job tasks in a way that was consistent

with the recommendations of ASCA (2005), they were more

satisfied with their jobs (Baggerly & Osborn, 2006).

Other Factors Relating to Stress, Burnout, and Job Satisfaction

Researchers have shown that additional variables including

years of experience, school level, and student caseload, con-

tributed to school counselors’ stress, burnout, and job satisfac-

tion. Baggerly and Osborn (2006), for example, found that

middle and high school counselors reported higher perceived

stress than did elementary school counselors. Wilkerson (2009)

found that years of experience as a school counselor was con-

tributory, with counselors with fewer years of experience or of

younger age in the counseling field reporting greater stress

compared to more experienced and older school counselors.

2 Professional School Counseling

Regarding burnout, Wilkerson (2009) found that years of

experience working as school counselor were positively related

to elements of burnout (depersonalization). In another study,

Bardhoshi, Schweinle, and Duncan (2014) identified that

school counselors with caseloads of more than 400 students

exhibited higher emotional exhaustion as compared to respon-

dents with lower caseloads, and McCarthy, Kerne, Calfa, Lam-

bert, and Guzmán (2010) found that school counselors reported

high student caseloads as a demanding aspect of their work.

Regarding career satisfaction, Baggerly and Osborn (2006)

found no significant difference in career satisfaction based on

school counseling participants’ school level, but an unexplored

area in the school counseling literature is whether school coun-

selors’ years of experience and age are related to their job

satisfaction, although this would be a reasonable assumption

given relationships found between years of experience and

burnout (Wilkerson, 2009). As a result of these existing studies,

the literature on stress and burnout (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984;

Maslach, 2003), and some apparent gaps in the literature, we

conducted a study on the relationships among school counse-

lors’ perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction.

Current Study

The current study aimed to replicate and extend the literature

by exploring the relationships among school counselors’ stress,

burnout, job satisfaction, age, years of experience, and student

caseload (Baggerly & Osborn, 2006; Mullen & Gutierrez,

2016; Rayle, 2006). The questions that guided our study were:

(a) What are the relationships between school counselors’ per-

ceived stress, burnout, job satisfaction, age, years of experi-

ence, and student caseload? (b) Does school counselors’

school level (elementary, middle/junior high, high school, and

other K–12 settings) cause any significant differences in school

counselors’ perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction? and

(c) Do school counselors’ burnout scores mediate the relation-

ship between their perceived stress and job satisfaction?

Method

Participants

A national sample (N ¼ 750) of practicing school counselors who were members of ASCA participated in this study. Of

this sample, 86.8% identified as female (n ¼ 651), 13% iden- tified as male (n ¼ 98), and 0.2% identified as Other (n ¼ 1). The mean age of participants was 44.72 (SD ¼ 10.74). Regarding ethnicity, 84.1% self-identified as White non- Hispanic (n ¼ 631), 6.8% as African American or Black (n ¼ 51), 4.5% as Hispanic/Latino(a) (n ¼ 34), and 4.6% as Other (n ¼ 34). Mean number of years of experience as a school counselor was 11.72 (SD ¼ 7.13). The mean caseload (i.e., number of different students assigned to the school coun-

selor each year) was 392.65 (SD ¼ 221.23, Mdn ¼ 375, range ¼ 5–3,400). Most participants worked in suburban schools (n ¼ 352, 46%), followed by rural (n ¼ 240, 32%) and urban

(n ¼ 158, 21.1%) schools. Moreover, most participants worked in high school settings (n ¼ 272, 36.3%), followed by elementary school settings (n ¼ 226, 30.1%), middle/ junior high school settings (n ¼ 178, 23.7%), and other K–12 settings (n ¼ 74, 9.9%).

Procedure

To complete this correlational, cross-sectional research inves-

tigation (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007), we employed e-mail-based

survey methods (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009) to collect

the data. Prior to recruitment and data collection, the institu-

tional review board at the first author’s university reviewed and

approved the study. We used the tailored design survey method

(Dillman et al., 2009) to recruit participants; 6,500 school

counselors who were members of ASCA were invited to com-

plete an online survey managed by Qualtrics (2013). School

counselors who chose to participate were directed to review the

consent information prior to their participation. If a school

counselor did not respond to the first e-mail invitation, they

were sent second and third reminder e-mails. Participants could

opt out of receiving reminder e-mails at any time. From the

initial recruitment e-mail to the close of the survey, the survey

remained open for duration of 6 weeks. Once the survey closed,

the data from Qualtrics were converted into an SPSS (Version

21) data file for analysis.

Of the 6,500 school counselors invited to participate, 476

had e-mails that were inactive. Thirty-three of the 6,500 coun-

selors e-mailed the first author commenting that they were no

longer working as a school counselor; therefore, they did not

participate. Of the remaining potential participants, 821 com-

pleted the survey in its entirety (a 13.70% response rate). We then screened the data to ensure that only practicing school

counselors had completed the survey. The data from 79 parti-

cipants, who were graduate students, social workers, school

administrators, or other, were deleted and excluded from any

further analyses. The resultant sample size of school counselors

was 750. The response rate achieved in this study was equiv-

alent to or greater than the response rates found in prior school

counseling research using similar data collection methods (e.g.,

Harris, 2013; Luke, Gilbride, & Goodrich, 2017; Mullen, Lam-

bie, Griffith, & Sherrell, 2015). Thus, we deemed the response

rate acceptable for this research study.

Measures

Perceived stress. School counselors’ perceived stress was mea- sured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck,

& Mermelstein, 1983). The PSS is one of the most widely used

scales that measures perceived stress and has been used in

research with school counselors (e.g., Mullen & Crowe,

2017), mental health counselors (Mullen, Morris, &

Lord, 2017), and counselor trainees (Gutierrez, Mullen, & Fox,

2017). The PSS is a 10-item, self-report measure of individu-

als’ perceptions of how often in the last month they felt or

Mullen et al. 3

thought in a way that would indicate encountering a stressful

event. The PSS is measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale with

scores ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (very often) and with higher

scores indicating more often encountering a stressful event. For

this study, we used mean PSS scores for each participant.

A sample item included, “In the last month, how often have

you been angered because of things that were outside of your

control?” An example item that was reverse coded was, “In the

last month, how often have you been able to control irritations

in your life?”

Perceived stress as measured by the PSS has been

moderately and positively related to significant life events,

self-reported stress, and self-reported physical illness in a

sample of residents in the United States (Cohen &

Williamson, 1988). In prior studies, Cronbach’s a ranged from .86 to .88 with school counselors (e.g., Mullen &

Gutierrez, 2016; Mullen & Crowe, 2017). In this study, the

Cronbach’s a coefficient was .85.

Burnout. School counselors’ burnout was measured using the Burnout Measure, Short Form (BMS-SF; Malach-Pines, 2005;

Pines & Aronson, 1988). The BMS-SF is a 10-item, self-report

measure assessing the level of an individual’s physical, emo-

tional, and mental exhaustion. Items are measured on a 7-point

Likert-type scale with scores ranging from 1 (never) to 7

(always). Higher scores indicate greater burnout. Participants

recorded their answers in response to the prompt, “When you

think about your work overall, how often do you feel the

following?” Respondents indicated their response to this

prompt with 10 words/phrases that represented different fea-

tures of burnout, including “helpless,” “worthless,” and “tired.”

Burnout as measured by the BMS-SF has been negatively

related to life satisfaction (r ¼ �.35, p < .001), optimism (r ¼ �.39, p < .001), and work satisfaction (r ¼ �.34, p < .001) in samples of police officers, nurses, and graduate stu-

dents (Malach-Pines, 2005). In prior research, scores on the

BMS-SF resulted in a Cronbach’s a of .89 within a sample of school counselors (Mullen & Crowe, 2017). The Cronbach’s

a coefficient for this study was also .89.

Job satisfaction. School counselors’ job satisfaction was mea- sured using the Overall Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (OJSQ;

Andrews & Withey, 1976), a 5-item, self-report measure of

general satisfaction with one’s job. The OJSQ is measured on

a 7-point Likert-type scale, with scores ranging from 1

(delighted) to 7 (terrified). Lower scores indicate individuals’

greater satisfaction with their jobs. To aid in the interpretation

of the findings, we reverse coded the OJSQ. Scores were cal-

culated by summing the items with scores ranging from 5 to 35,

with higher scores representing greater job satisfaction. Sample

items are: “How do you feel about your job?” and “How do you

feel about the people you work with—your co-workers?”

Rentsch and Steel (1992) established convergent validity evi-

dence through correlations between the OJSQ and established

measures of job satisfaction that included the Minnesota Satis-

faction Questionnaire (r ¼ .70, p < .001) and the Job Descrip- tive Questionnaire (r ¼ .70, p < .001). Job satisfaction, as measured by the OJSQ, has been positively related to organiza-

tional commitment (r ¼ .64, p < .05) and supervisor ratings of performance (r ¼ .32, p < .05; Rentsch & Steel, 1992). Prior research with the OJSQ resulted in Cronbach’s a ranging from .79 to.82 in samples of K–12 principals and student affairs

professionals (Chang, Leach, & Anderman, 2015; Mullen

et al., 2018). In this study, the Cronbach’s a coefficient was .85.

Results

Preliminary Analysis

We screened the data prior to the application of statistical

analysis. In an examination of the converted z-scores of the

total scores for the main variables, eight outlier cases had val-

ues greater than 3 and were deemed extreme outliers (Osborne,

2012). Therefore, we employed Winsorized means based on

adjacent data points to resolve the outliers (Osborne, 2012).

Next, we screened the data to assess the assumptions associated

with the statistical analyses used in this study (e.g., homosce-

dasticity, no multicollinearity, multivariate normality; Hair,

Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006). No violations of

statistical assumptions were found with these data. We utilized

multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and Pearson’s

correlations to analyze participants’ perceived stress, burnout,

and job satisfaction scores in light of their age, years of expe-

rience, student caseload, and school level (see Table 1). To test

whether burnout mediates the relationship between perceived

stress and job satisfaction, we used a series of simple and

Table 1. Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations Among Participants’ Perceived Stress, Burnout, Job Satisfaction, Age, Years of Experience, and Student Caseload.

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Perceived stress 1.47 0.57 — 2. Burnout 2.89 0.92 .72*** — 3. Job satisfaction 5.25 0.98 �.50*** �.63*** — 4. Age 44.72 10.74 �.16*** �.12** .03 — 5. Years of experience 11.72 7.13 �.14*** �.08* .03 .66*** — 6. Student caseload 392.65 221.23 .00 .05 �.01 .01 �.02 —

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

4 Professional School Counseling

multiple linear regression analyses, Sobel test, and structure

coefficients (see Table 2).

Results

To examine relationships among school counselors’ perceived

stress, burnout, job satisfaction, age, years of experience, and

student caseload (Research Question 1), we employed Pearson

product–moment correlation (see Table 1). Results indicated

that perceived stress and burnout were strongly, positively cor-

related (r ¼ .72, p > .001); and both perceived stress (r ¼�.50, p < .001) and burnout (r ¼ �.63, p < .001) were negatively correlated to job satisfaction. Perceived stress was signifi-

cantly, negatively correlated with age (r ¼�.16; p < .001) and years of experience (r ¼ �.14; p < .001). Likewise, burnout was significantly, negatively correlated with age (r ¼�.12, p < .01) and years of experience (r ¼ �.08, p < .05). Age and experience were significantly, positively correlated (r ¼ .66; p < .001). Neither perceived stress (r ¼ .00, p ¼ .98), burnout (r ¼ .05, p ¼ .16), job satisfaction (r ¼�.01, p ¼ .82), age (r ¼ .01, p ¼ .87) nor years of experience (r ¼�.02, p ¼ .56) were correlated to student caseload.

To explore significant differences in school counselors’ per-

ceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction as a function of their

school level (elementary, middle/junior high, high school, and

other K–12 settings; Research Question 2), we employed a one-

way MANOVA. The three dependent variables were perceived

stress, burnout, and job satisfaction. The independent variable

was school level (elementary, middle/junior high, high school,

and other K–12 settings). Results demonstrated no statistically

significant omnibus differences in the dependent variables

(perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction) based on parti-

cipants’ school level, F(9, 1810.85) ¼ 1.68, p ¼ .09; Wilks’s l ¼ .98, Z 2p ¼ .01.

To examine whether school counselors’ burnout scores

mediate the relationship between their perceived stress and job

satisfaction (Research Question 3), we conducted two simple

linear regressions and one multiple linear regression using pro-

cedures recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986) and Kenny,

Kashy, and Bolger (1998). As shown in Table 2, we first con-

ducted a simple linear regression with perceived stress as the

independent variable and burnout as the dependent variable.

In this equation, perceived stress explained 52% of the variance in burnout, F(1, 749) ¼ 808.55, p < .001. Next, we conducted a simple linear regression with perceived stress as the indepen-

dent variable and job satisfaction as the dependent variable.

Perceived stress explained 25% of the variance in job satisfac- tion, F(1, 749) ¼ 243.46, p < .001. Finally, we conducted a multiple linear regression with perceived stress and burnout as

the independent variables and job satisfaction as the dependent

variable. Together, the independent variables explained 40% of the variance in job satisfaction, F(2, 747) ¼ 246.48, p < .001; however, the predictive value of perceived stress (b ¼ �.09, p ¼ .03) was significantly reduced in Step 3, indicating that burnout fully mediated the relationship between perceived

stress and job satisfaction. A Sobel test calculation (Preacher

& Leonardelli, 2001) verified these effects (z ¼ �21.47, p < .001), confirming that burnout mediated the relationship

between perceived stress and job satisfaction. In a final validity

check of these results, we examined structure coefficients and

found that burnout (rs ¼ .99) better predicted job satisfaction than perceived stress (rs ¼ .79; Courville & Thompson, 2001).

Discussion

In this investigation, we explored the relationships among

school counselors’ perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfac-

tion. We also examined these three variables in light of the

participants’ school level, student caseload, age, and years of

experience. We found a strong positive correlation between

perceived stress and burnout among school counselors.

Although stress and burnout are conceptually different

(Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Maslach, 2003), these findings

indicate that they are related and when school counselors expe-

rience greater stress, they are likely to experience greater burn-

out. These findings are consistent with previous findings

(Mullen & Gutierrez, 2016) indicating a strong positive corre-

lation between school counselors’ perceived stress and

burnout.

Similarly, in this current study, perceived stress and burnout

produced a strong negative relationship with job satisfaction,

indicating that greater stress and burnout are associated with a

decreased level of job satisfaction. This finding is consistent

with the findings of Rayle (2006), who identified a strong

negative relationship between job stress and job satisfaction,

and with the findings of Baggerly and Osborn (2006), who

identified a moderate negative relationship between stress and

career satisfaction.

The findings from our study also indicate that younger and

less experienced school counselors are more likely to report

greater perceived stress and burnout compared to older and

more experienced school counselors, which is consistent with

Wilkerson’s (2009) findings that identified a weak negative

relationship between school counselors’ experience and their

Table 2. Mediation Analysis.

Independent Variables

Dependent Variable B SE b DR2 F

Step 1 .52 808.55* Perceived stress Burnout 1.16 .04 .72*

Step 2 .25 243.46* Perceived stress Job

satisfaction �0.85 .05 �.50*

Step 3 .40 246.48* Perceived stress Job

satisfaction �0.15 .07 �.09

Burnout �0.60 .04 �.56*

Note. N ¼ 750. *p < .001.

Mullen et al. 5

reported stress. Younger and less experienced school counse-

lors may handle difficulties differently or face frequent chal-

lenges as they transition into and undertake their new

responsibilities, leading to greater stress and burnout. Future

research should explore and replicate these findings to under-

stand what specific factors contribute to younger or more inex-

perienced school counseling professionals’ perceived stress

and burnout as compared to that of older or more experienced

school counselors.

Younger and less experienced school counselors

may handle difficulties differently or face frequent

challenges as they transition into and undertake

their new responsibilities, leading to greater stress

and burnout.

In prior research, school counselors reported that caseloads

over 400 related to emotional exhaustion (Bardhoshi et al.,

2014). In the current study, however, we found that caseload

was not associated with perceived stress, burnout, or job satis-

faction. Bardhoshi and colleagues (2014) utilized the Counse-

lor Burnout Inventory (Lee et al., 2007), which may have

produced different results as compared to the measures used

in our study (i.e., BMS-SF, PSS, and OJSQ). Another potential

reason for the inconsistency between these two investigations

is that the current study included a sample of 750, whereas

Bardhoshi et al.’s study had 206 participants. Due to the dis-

crepancy between these studies, additional research is merited

to better understand how student caseload is related to school

counselors’ burnout, stress, and job satisfaction.

We found that caseload was not associated with

perceived stress, burnout, or job satisfaction. We

also found that school counselors’ perceived stress,

burnout, and job satisfaction did not differ based on

their school level.

In the current study, we also found that school counselors’

perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction did not differ

based on their school level. Our findings are similar to those

of Baggerly and Osborn (2006), who found no significant dif-

ference in career satisfaction based on school level; however,

Baggerly and Osborn did report that middle and high school

counselors experience greater stress than elementary school

counselors, which differs from our findings. Our results suggest

that school counselors’ experiences of stress and burnout are

pervasive across all school levels, and simultaneously, school

counselors across school levels may be generally satisfied with

their jobs. More research on this topic may provide better

insight into school-level differences in stress and burnout.

Our study’s results indicated that perceived stress and burn-

out were individually and collectively predictive of job satis-

faction. In fact, the linear composite of perceived stress and

burnout explained 40% of the variance in job satisfaction, indi- cating that greater levels of stress and burnout are also related

to lower job satisfaction. The findings from this study are con-

sistent with findings from prior research in which school coun-

selors’ stress had a moderate negative relationship with job

satisfaction (Baggerly & Osborn, 2006; Mullen et al., 2018;

Rayle, 2006).

Burnout and stress have long been considered problematic

for helping professionals; however, only limited research has

examined the interplay of these constructs. Theorists (Freuden-

berger, 1974; Maslach, 2003; Stebnicki, 2008) have noted that

burnout develops over time as a consequence of prolonged

stress related to social interactions with coworkers or col-

leagues and can be particularly problematic for helping profes-

sionals such as school counselors. In the current study, school

counselors who reported greater stress also reported greater

burnout and less satisfaction with their jobs. Burnout mediated

stress and job satisfaction, meaning that burnout explained how

stress negatively affects school counselors’ job satisfaction.

This finding supports the notion that school counselors should

be aware of their stress and take steps to prevent burnout (Law-

son & Myers, 2011).

Implications for School Counseling Practice and Future Research

The findings from our study have several implications for

school counseling practice and training. First, school counselor

educators may want to teach school counseling trainees how to

use self-assessments of stress and burnout and self-awareness

strategies (e.g., Bradley, Whisenhunt, Adamson, & Kress,

2013; Lambie, 2006) during their preparation programs. By

preparing school counselor trainees to remain aware of their

levels of stress and burnout, school counselor educators may

contribute to prevention of trainees’ future job dissatisfaction.

School counselor educators may also want to teach counselor

trainees wellness and self-care strategies. For example, Wolf,

Thompson, Thompson, and Smith-Adcock (2014) described a

wellness program in which self-care strategies are taught to

counselor trainees over the course of a 14-session workshop

series. Further, school counselor educators could include well-

ness and self-care strategies in their curriculum (e.g., wellness

plans and wellness seminars) to offer strategies to mitigate

burnout and stress.

School counselor educators may want to teach

school counseling trainees how to use self-

assessments of stress and burnout and self-

awareness strategies . . . [they] also may want to teach counselor trainees wellness and self-care

strategies.

Clinical supervision could also include self-care (Blount &

Mullen, 2015; Lambie & Sias, 2009; Moyer, 2011). School

counselor supervisors can support practicing counselors,

including advocating for defined roles for counselors to prevent

systematic causes of stress (Young & Lambie, 2007).

6 Professional School Counseling

Furthermore, clinical supervisors can observe and assess their

trainees’ level of stress or wellness during initial clinical train-

ing and provide feedback on ways to cope with the demands of

the school counseling environment. For instance, Ohrt, Prosek,

Ener, and Lindo (2015) outlined a 1.5-hr interactive group

presentation that addresses various aspects of burnout (i.e.,

definitions, warning signs, and consequences) that supervisors

could employ with counselors in training with the aim of

enhancing their wellness. School districts could also adapt this

type of intervention for professional development workshops.

Gnilka, Karpinski, and Smith (2015) suggested that a key strat-

egy in reducing school counselor burnout could be increasing

supervision activities and continuing education.

Practicing school counselors may also benefit from self-

assessing their levels of stress, burnout, and wellness. Several

measures are available to evaluate school counselors’ burnout

and stress, such as the Professional Quality of Life Scale

(Stamm, 2010). Other forms of assessment may be informal,

like the Wellness Starfish (Blount & Mullen, 2015) or struc-

tured activities such as those discussed by Young and Lambie

(2007). To formally assess personal wellness, school counse-

lors could utilize the Five Factor Wellness Inventory (Myers &

Sweeney, 2005) or the Helping Professional Wellness Discre-

pancy Scale (Blount & Lambie, 2018).

Blount and Mullen (2015) and Lenz and Smith (2010) pro-

vide conceptual models of integrating wellness into supervision

interactions and highlight the importance of assessing (for-

mally or informally) wellness during counselor training. For

example, Blount and Mullen note the use of an informal assess-

ment of wellness using a method they call the Wellness Star-

fish. This creative approach uses the starfish as a metaphor to

evaluate one’s current strengths and deficits by drawing out the

tentacles of a starfish, with each tentacle representing a differ-

ent area of well-being. A component of this model is helping

supervisees develop their own definition of wellness. Through

creating and redefining a personal model of wellness, super-

visees tailor the way they will maintain their wellness based on

their personal preferences. Research is needed on effective

supervision strategies, such as the ones described by Blount

and Mullen (2015) and Lenz and Smith (2010), to reduce stress

and burnout experiences by school counselors.

In the current study, we found that school counselors who

experienced higher levels of stress and burnout were also more

dissatisfied with their work compared to school counselors

with lower levels of stress and burnout. The use of career-

sustaining behaviors (Lawson & Myers, 2011) may support

school counselors’ well-being or implement wellness-

enhancing behaviors. Career sustaining behaviors are activities

that individuals engage in to enhance their professional satis-

faction and alleviate the difficulties experienced while at work,

such as the use of supervision or scheduled breaks. Further-

more, the use of problem-focused coping, as opposed to

emotion-focused coping, may mitigate the consequences of

stress (Wilkerson, 2009). Problem-focused coping refers to

targeting stressors in a practical manner (e.g., goal setting/

problem-solving, time management, and social support) that

in turn reduces the degree of stress (Lazarus, 2006). Research

examining occupational factors (e.g., work environment,

supervisor support, and compensation) that relate to burnout

in school counselors is also warranted.

A final implication is related to the finding that the relation-

ship between school counselors’ stress and job satisfaction was

mediated by burnout. Specifically, this finding aligns with prior

research results and theory related to stress and burnout (e.g.,

Mullen & Gutierrez, 2016). For practicing school counselors,

this finding highlights the importance of intervening when

daily stress is experienced and is a means to prevent the devel-

opment of burnout. Although school counselors are likely to

face stressors, stress itself is not what leads to job dissatisfac-

tion. Instead, it is stress as it is mediated through burnout that is

associated with feelings of dissatisfaction. Some stress may be

beneficial (e.g., pushing one to get a task completed); how we

manage the stress is what determines its lasting impact on

burnout and job satisfaction. Therefore, school counselors

should continuously strive to focus on their ways of coping

with the stressors that arise as a part of their jobs. Future

research should investigate effective ways to cope with stres-

sors that can be implemented by school counselors, school

counselor educators, and supervisors.

Limitations

This study offers empirical evidence regarding the correlation

between school counselors’ stress, burnout, and job satisfaction

with burnout mediating the relationship between stress and job

satisfaction; however, we did not test alternative models, and

therefore, any directionality in hypothetical mediational mod-

els cannot be assumed. This study involved primarily White,

female school counselors; thus, the results may not be as gen-

eralizable to ethnic minority school counselors or school coun-

selors of a different gender. Last, because this study was

correlational in nature, the results should not be interpreted

as indicating a cause and effect relationship between the

variables.

Conclusion

We explored the relationship between school counselors’

stress, burnout, job satisfaction, and their demographic charac-

teristics. We also evaluated whether burnout mediated the rela-

tionship between stress and job satisfaction. Participants’ stress

and burnout levels were negatively associated with years of

experience and age. We found no differences in school coun-

selors perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction based on

their school level; however, burnout fully mediated stress and

job satisfaction. Stress and burnout are very likely to arise in

the work of school counselors and should be prevented and

attended to with the goal of enhancing the satisfaction school

counselors feel in their work.

Mullen et al. 7

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-

ship, and/or publication of this article.

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Author Biographies

Patrick R. Mullen, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Depart-

ment of School Psychology and Counselor Education at the

College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, USA.

Ashley J. Blount, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Depart-

ment of Counseling at the University of Nebraska Omaha in

Omaha, NE, USA.

Glenn W. Lambie, PhD, is a professor and chair of the Depart-

ment of Child, Family, and Community Sciences at the Uni-

versity of Central Florida in Orlando, FL, USA.

Nancy Chae is a doctoral student in the Department of School

Psychology and Counselor Education at the College of William

and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, USA.

10 Professional School Counseling

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