Reliability and Validity of an Instrument to Describe Burnout Among Collegiate Athletic Trainers (Original Research) (Clinical Report‪)‬

The phenomenon known as burnout was first described by Freudenberger, (1) whose office staff was experiencing a noticeable decline in quality of patient care, a gradual emotional depletion, and a loss of motivation and commitment. Since then, many authors (2-16) have studied burnout in members of the helping professions, ranging from police officers to medical personnel. The definition of burnout varies considerably because each researcher (2-16) has created a unique definition. Maslach and Jackson (2) first studied burnout in police officers, teachers, and medical personnel and ultimately operationalized burnout into 3 parts: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment. Today, this 3-part definition provides the skeleton for the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which is the most universally used instrument in the study of burnout. (2-7)